State of emergency extended in East Timor
DILI (Reuters) - East Timor's parliament approved anextension of the state of emergency until February 23 as PrimeMinister Xanana Gusmao called for calm on Wednesday followingan assassination attempt on President Jose Ramos-Horta.
Ramos-Horta was critically wounded by gunfire from rebelsoldiers early on Monday, while Gusmao escaped unhurt in aseparate attack on his motorcade.
Some analysts had said East Timor could suffer furtherviolence and political chaos after the attack on Ramos-Horta inwhich rebel leader Alfredo Reinado died. Australia sent troopsto Dili this week to enforce a state of emergency and help withsecurity.
"This emergency status is not intended to hinder people'sactivities but to allow the normalisation of the situation,"Gusmao said. "I call on the people to remain calm and abide bygovernment rules."
East Timor's prosecutor-general said earlier on Wednesdaythat he would issue arrest warrants for 18 people believed tobe involved in assassination attempts on the president andprime minister.
"We're coming today to a conclusion to issue the warrants,"Prosecutor-General Longinhos Monteiro told reporters in Dili.
Asked how strong the evidence was, he said: "99 percent,"but added: "I do not want to mention the names of thoseinvolved at this stage."
Hundreds of Reinado supporters -- some weeping, othersshouting "Viva Alfredo" -- gathered at his home in Dili onWednesday as his coffin was brought to the house.
Supporters insisted on opening the coffin several times inorder to confirm that the body inside was indeed his.
"Even though you're dead, your spirit will live forever andwe will continue your struggle," one man shouted, as U.N.police provided tight security in the area.
Australian troops continued to arrive in Dili to reinforceinternational peacekeepers and the 1,600-strong U.N. policedetachment, who are enforcing state of emergency first declaredin the wake of Monday's attacks.
Ramos-Horta was airlifted to Darwin in northern Australiaon Monday for emergency medical treatment for gunshot wounds.Surgeons carried out a further operation on Wednesday.
His chief surgeon, Phil Carson, said the operation revealedthe president was likely shot twice, not three times as thoughtearlier, and that he would need several more operations.
He would have considerable scarring, but would make a fullrecovery, Carson said.
FEARS OF MORE VIOLENCE
Despite fears that pro-Reinado members of the rulingcoalition might withdraw their support following the death ofthe rebel leader, sparking the collapse of the government, amember of the coalition said there were no signs of a split.
"The events have made the coalition stronger. The attacksshow who had good intentions and who did not," said AderitoHugo da Costa, a member of parliament in Gusmao's party.
Reinado had led a revolt against the government and wascharged with murder after factional violence in 2006. Laterthat year, he escaped jail with 50 other inmates, embarrassingsecurity forces.
Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, who issecretary-general of the main opposition party Fretilin, calledfor early elections to settle a political impasse inparliament. Fretilin is the dominant party in parliament, butdid not form a government because it lacks an absolutemajority.
Ramos-Horta, 58, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996for waging a non-violent struggle for independence, split fromFretilin.
East Timor gained full independence from Indonesia in 2002after a U.N.-sponsored vote in 1999 that was marred byviolence. Indonesian invaded the former Portuguese colony in1975, and many thousands of East Timorese died during thebrutal occupation.
(Additional reporting by Tito Belo and Telly Nathalia inDili and Rob Taylor in Canberra; Writing by Sara Webb; Editingby Jeremy Laurence)