Alfredo Reinado - the word on the street

As you have most likely heard by now, Ramos-Horta was shot
yesterday. Alfredo Reinado, the leader of the petitionaros
(those who signed a petition two years ago asking that their
claims of discrimination in the armed forces be addressed)
was killed. I just attended a security briefing at the World
Bank, so I have a slightly clearer idea of what happened than
before. (The New York Times also has a pretty good article).
So apparently six men came to Horta's house (which is on the
outskirts of Dili, to the east - there are very few neighbours.
I could probably take a picture sometime (no time soon tho,
I'm sure) but I'm just saying it's a little bit "isolated" - but only
2 or 3 minutes from the eastern edge of Dili). Anyhow, they got
past the first layer of security. Horta was not at home
(he was walking on the beach) and Alfredo started "making
some noise" which alerted security (this is according to the
briefing I just heard). In the ensuing gunfight Alfredo and one
of his men were killed. Horta heard the gunshots and started
walking back to his house. Apparently when he walks along
the beach in the morning (people have seen him, of course),
he has "one body guard, walking a few feet behind." As he
was walking up the hill to his house he was shot in the stomach
and in the shoulder. He was taken to the International Special
Forces compound and then around noon to Darwin. He's now
in "stable but critical" condition, in an induced coma.

This happened around 6:15 am, apparently. 40 minutes later
(without having been told about the attack!), the Prime Minister
(Xanana Gusmao) left his residence (in the hills above Dili) in
a motorcade, as usual, to come to work. On their way they were
ambushed by 12 men. The cars came under "heavy fire" (the
head of security for the Bank says he saw the pictures and the
cars were in pretty bad shape). Xanana's car was shot at, the
tires were shot out, but still they continued driving and somehow
managed to escape. Another car went over the edge of the road
(this is coming down from the mountains, so it was probably
a cliff - I know those roads) and the police officers inside were
injured but otherwise fine. There were no deaths in this attack.
(But considering that it was 40 minutes after the attack on
Horta, it obviously shouldn't have happened at all. It would
appear that somehow Xanana had still not been told about the
attack on Horta).

So, that's what happened. Yesterday, I was sent a text message
at 8 in the morning (just as my class was supposed to start) that
"Alfredo's men have taken the President's house. Classes
cancelled." So I went home. Things were normal on the streets,
tho'. People didn't know what was happening or were just finding
out. Actually as soon as I got home I went to talk to my neighbours
and they calmed me down (I mean their reaction, or lack of it.)
Although later in the conversation someone was pretty serious.
(That may seem like a strange sentence, but Timorese joke
a lot. Which is not to say they're never serious and I've never
seen them look worried (I have), but at this point I think it's fair
to say I was feeling more panicky than them.) But the big news
- that Alfredo had been killed - was taken very seriously. One of
my neighbours said that if it was true, there would be "no problems"
(no reaction from people) - which I found strange, and hard to
believe. Some other neighbours (who have family members who
are petitioners) said no, if he was really dead there would be
problems.

So, this is the thing. I'm not sure if my neighbours (and others
who support the petitioners) really believe that Alfredo is
dead. By now, I think they must believe. There's a photo in
the paper of his body, and apparently it was also shown on
TV last night. But yesterday I know they didn't believe. One
of the neighbours in the morning said Alfredo's father (who
lives not very far from us) got a call from his son (or vice-versa)
and Alfredo was in Ermera, very much alive. That was the first
response to the news of his death. And frankly I was glad
to hear it, because as long as people didn't believe he was
dead (in my humble opinion), things would be fairly calm.
Later some other neighbours (whose brothers are petitioners)
said they called their brothers (in the mountains) and their
brothers didn't believe Alfredo was dead.

As of this morning, they are wondering why the family
hasn't been allowed to see Alfredo's body. They also say that
Alfredo's core group of security (about 20) are still in
Ermera (3 or 4 hours from Dili), so....they don't understand.

So, that's the news for now. I was waiting last night, waiting,
I guess, for people to find out that Alfredo was dead, and to
believe it. Xanana announced it on the radio, and TV. But
there didn't really seem to be a reaction. I was watching
the TV with the neighbours. Today, things are calm. Last
night, things were calm. Very quiet, in fact. There's a curfew
from 8pm - 6am, last night and tonight, and no public
gatherings are allowed. The Australians have sent another
100 troops (possibly a 'special task force') and may be
sending more...but so far there hasn't been any reaction
to speak of. I really hope there isn't one.

Maybe I should just end by saying it's really too bad. It's
too bad that the petitioners concerns weren't addressed
when they were first raised (two years ago). I think all
the Timorese I have talked to who have talked about this
issue have been sympathetic to their cause. Alfredo may
have been a bit of a nut (and what happened yesterday
doesn't seem like the actions of a super-sane man), but
there is a lot of support for the petitioners. I think people
need to keep that in mind. The foreign press can make
Alfredo sound really bad - he's evidently no angel - but
there was a lot of support for "his" cause. What happen"s"
to Alfredo and what happens to his supporters doesn't
really matter to people living in Portugal or Australia,
but it matters here. Of course in doing this I think it's
fair to say that whatever hope of a dialogue there was
has been wiped out. But notice - there were 700 or so
petitioners. Yesterday the attacks on Horta and Xanana
together were carried out by 20 of them, total. And the
people I know at least, whose brothers support him and
are (were) out in the hills "with" him didn't know he was
in Dili and were sure he was not dead. So...