Interview - Mari Alkatiri: Reinado Did Not Shoot Horta

Tempo Magazine No. 25/VIII/February 19-25, 2008

Two shooting incidents took place last Monday--at two different times: one happened at the residence of President Jose Ramos-Horta and the other was aimed at the car carrying Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Ramos-Horta had just ended his exercises when he was struck by a volley of bullets at the compound of his residence. Major Alfredo Reinado, 42, the leader of the bloody attack was killed during the ensuing gun battle, along with one of his troops.

Ramos-Horta, a recipient of the Nobel peace prize in 1966, was immediately flown to the Royal Darwin Hospital in Darwin, Australia. "This is clearly an attempted coup d'etat. I will not allow anyone to take advantage of the situation," said Prime Minister Xanana. Since then, Timor Leste has come under emergency rule.

The armed attack was actually a tip of the iceberg in the series of political conflicts besetting Timor Leste since its independence. Some people say the incident was a continuation of the May 2006 violence, which erupted as a result of then-Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's policies. Alkatiri had intended to streamline the military. About 600 dismissed soldiers protested, charging Alkatiri with discrimination. It seems most of the dismissed troops came from the western part of Timor Leste, while the leaders came from the eastern areas.

They formed themselves into street gangs. The nameless groups consisted of youths, and former members of the military and police--some of them commanders. One of them was Major Alfredo Reinado. Their actions succeeded in causing chaos in Dili. A number of civilians were killed. Mari Alkatiri himself was forced to resign as prime minister.

One day after the shooting of Ramos-Horta, a number of publications in Dili pointed at Alkatiri, charging his political party of being behind Reinado's activities. Alkatiri denied the charges. Last Tuesday, he held a press conference to refute all charges.

In the middle of the emergency situation in Timor Leste, Alkatiri spoke with Tempo correspondent in Dili, Jose Sarito Amaral, in an exclusive interview, which took place at his residence, last Friday. Alkatiri provided additional information to Tempo reporters Widiarsi Agustina and Faisal Assegaf by telephone. Excerpts:

What is your view on the shootings of President Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana?

It is all still very mysterious and I don't want to speculate on the incident. Clearly, the death of Reinado poses many questions, particularly since he died before President Horta was shot. That is to say, Reinado actually did not kill Horta because he died first. This is what confuses me.

So, who was actually responsible for the two attacks?

Once again it is difficult to determine who the mastermind is. I just know that it was not Reinado who shot President Horta. Strangely enough, one hour after the shooting, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was attacked. All this requires an immediate and thorough investigation. I suggest that a professional international team investigate the incidents.

Who do you think should be suspected?

I don't want to accuse anyone, because that needs evidence and a thorough investigation. Such as, why were Reinado's military attacks done simultaneously but so unprofessionally? This is strange. In my view, the shooting of Horta was executed by an organized group.

Do you have any idea who might have plotted this with Reinado?

I am not able to say much at this time. Clearly, the assassination attempts are linked. I am not an investigator, but I am attempting to seek some information and trying to analyze who is behind Reinado. Why did he die before Horta was shot?

According to some reports, the attack was linked to a meeting President Horta held with a number of politicians, a week before the shooting.

I think they are connected. Indeed, there was a meeting of politicians at Horta's residence a week before the shootings. Attending the meeting were members of the Timorese Reconstruction National Party (CNRT) led by Xanana Gusmao, the Social Democrat Party, the Timor Social Democrat Party Association (ASDT) and the Fretilin Party.

What was discussed at that meeting?

President Horta welcomed the proposal of the Fretilin Party to the UN Secretary-General.

Essentially it united all parties under the Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) with the Fretilin, and forming an inclusive government, a national unity government. Fretilin itself refused to join in the national unity government like this one. The initiative was taken to resolve the problem of Alfredo Reinado, deserters led by Salsinha Gastao and also the refugees.

Do you think any of the party elites were involved?

I will just say that the person behind Horta's shooting perhaps disagreed with the President's initiative to form a new government and hold another election.

As the opposition, your party must be seen as a possible instigator of the attempted coup.
We want another election, not a coup, particularly since President Horta already approved it. But suddenly the Reinado group took the road to rebel against the state.

We want to ask whether you are involved or not in this attempted coup.

Well, I've been getting a lot of hate mail accusing me of being behind all this. They don't want me to be prime minister again. They say they are willing to do anything as long as Alkatiri does not return as prime minister. Everyone seems to hate me. I already explained: if Horta had not been shot, the agreement on the formation of an inclusive government and a repeat election would have taken place. And that was the recommendation of my party. So why should I kill anyone or pull a coup d'etat?

According to some reports it was you and Fretilin who were behind Reinado's actions.

It has become the tradition in Timor Leste that if there is a problem, everyone blames it on Mari Alkatiri. But that's all right. That's why I called for the establishment of an international investigation. The United Nations mission and international peacekeeping forces in Timor Leste must also clarify their weaknesses in the country. Why weren't they able to detect the attack? They were quite close by.

In your view, how credible is the government of Xanana and Horta in the eyes of the public?
The coup and the shootings indicate the public's faith in the Xanana Gusmao government has fallen. If it was not able to control its security forces and protect President Horta, I can say that this is an inadequate government.

Did Fretilin want this to happen?

Fretilin did not want this. We do not want the crisis to be worse. Fretilin defends this nation so it is stable. The Fretilin chief and I called Xanana. We told him that the shooting of Horta was an act of rebellion against the state, not against Xanana or Horta.

What do you think was the intention of the Reinado group?

Fretilin never used Reinado for its political objectives. I never separated from him because I was never together with him in the first place. They united to bring down my government, but now they are split. In your opinion, who is behind all this?

So, you don't approve of Reinado's movement?

It's not a matter of supporting Reinado's movement or not. I just regret that it happened at all.
Is it true that a few days before the shooting Reinado met with a number of parliamentarians?
Three members of parliament met with Reinado three days before the shootings. They were from PSD/ASDT and PD. If Fretilin parliamentarians had met with Reinado that day, imagine what people would be saying now. Their meeting was secret and the international forces actually saw them. That is why the Attorney General must investigate them. I don't want to accuse anyone of the shooting right now. But on the other hand, there must be an investigation to seek the truth.

What about political support towards the government?

I think that politically, AMP is beginning to be destabilized. Perhaps it will soon fall. From the political viewpoint, they are already weak, they are unable to solve the Reinado problem, the deserters under Gastao and the refugees. This is making the supporters of AMP very unhappy. From the security viewpoint, President Horta could not be protected. He was shot. From the economic point of view, everyone knows that there is a rice crisis currently going on. Prices of commodities have gone up and the government has not been able to control this. This is what will bring down the AMP government, unless there is another election or an inclusive government is formed.

How strong are the Xanana supporters on the ground?

There are none at all because they were incapable of providing security for President Horta. If the people really want it, this cowboy government can prevail. Otherwise, I don't know any other solution. Pending the President's return to health, we must continue with preparing for repeat elections.

On security, what about the UN forces and the Australian troops?

The government is in a better position to answer that question. Personally, I question their professionalism in Timor Leste. They were very close to where it happened, yet they were not able to see the Reinado group. I don't want make accusations, but this quite clear.

It seems there has been continuous violence in Timor Leste since independence. Why is this?

This is because there is a group which uses violence for their political ends. Actually, we should really learn from this experience to better understand what the people want.

What about efforts at reconciliation so far?

There has been no attempt at reconciliation. Before and after last year's election, all the parties wanted to get rid of Fretilin. They did not want to unite, they wanted to be separate. And during the elections, Fretilin was accused of many things to damage its reputation.

What if Horta dies?

I am sure he will recover. But if he does pass away, there must be a new presidential election in six weeks' time.