Ex-army admits: Conspiracy Xanana Gusmao and Mahidin Simbolon

Dark side of President of East Timor

Jakarta, 6 September 2004 14:45

There was a commotion in the editor’s office this morning with the presence of a man with the initials JM . The man who admits to being ex-army of the Satu Kompi Brawijaya Division and appeared keen to admit that, due to feelings of frustration and stress, ongoing for years, he could no longer keep quiet about the connection with the involvement of the military operation ABRI/POLRI (TNI/POLRI-red) in East Timor from the year 1994 to the end of 1996.

The journalists of this magazine were confused by this gentleman. However, after several minutes the ex member of ABRI started to explain to the GATRA correspondent about several involvements in the killing operation of several important figures of the pro freedom movement of East Timor which ran from 1994 to 1996.

Here the magazine correspondent was not very surprised with the information, as it was already an open secret that in the mid 90s the war in East Timor was being stoked by ABRI/POLRI (TNI/POLRI-red) on several of the East Timor guerrilla defence basis or as they are better known by their ABRI term, GPK-Fretilin.

However, the story became very different and surprising when ex-sergeant JM (who has to keep his name secret for the safety of his family) explained all the ABRI operational documents to do with the Front Clandestin and East Timor Armed Force.

The main target of the operation was the leader of the Front Clandestin organisation who at that time was led by his commander Keri Laran Sabalae. One thing which was very interesting and also sensational was the dilemma of the military operation which was directly under the command of Colonel Mahidin Simbolon (Simbolon’s rank at the time) with the cooperation with Xanana Gusmao, the “resistance leader” of East Timor, who was incarcerated in LP Cipinang Jakarta.

Ex-sergeant JM said that he himself was present at the meeting between Colonel M. Simbolon which was conducted in a room of the Lembaga Permasyarakatan Cipinang in Jakarta.

The basis of the meeting was the desire and the readiness of Xanana Gusmao to “centralise” radical groups into an East Timorese resistance organisation body which, according to Xanana, could threaten the efforts of the “quiet resistance” and reconciliation with diverse East Timor political groups who were being hurried along to unify the people of East Timor.

Because of this, Xanana Gusmao was ready to work together with Col. M Simbolon to annihilate the radical groups of “GPK Fretilin” which among others consisted of several commandants of the Fretilin movement and its followers with names Rodak Timur, Keri Laran Sabalae, David Alex, Konis Santana and Eli Fohorai Boot.

These names were inserted very clearly in a military operation document appendix 1994-1996 which was unfolded by ex-sergeant JM. The core of the “cooperation” between Xanana’s camp and M. Simbolon was the principle of mutualism: Simbolon could achieve success in his military career and Xanana would even become more flexible in controlling the resistance movement which he commanded from LP Cipinang.

It seems clear indeed that the president of the new East Timor was very cunning in maintaining the importance of his group by exterminating his own commanders, who were deemed disloyal to him or even if loyal, according to Xanana they over- prioritised the “violent path” to reach national goals.

Seen from the documents and the various photographs in the possession of JM, it is very difficult to doubt the origin of this story. This is the hidden version and the dark side of the “charisma” of Xanana who was so exalted by his own people. Working with the “enemy” to annihilate his own people.

Ex-sergeant JM himself says the burden he has carried for this time has become lighter with his admittance. He regrets deeply why the East Timorese president was so sly in order to victimise part of the members of his people for the importance of his political strategy. Concerning Major General Simbolon, Serka (sergeant major), JM makes the appeal that the TNI/POLRI headquarters immediately investigate this case.

Because the nature of the military operation at that time secrecy from the unit which was led by Col. M. Simbolon. ABRI headquarters only obtained the military operation appendix copy after the defeat of several “GPK Fretilin”. “Because of this, Major General Purnawirawan Mahidin Simbolon must be immediately investigated remembering that ‘the stars on his shoulders’ of the general is the result of conspiracy with the enemy of the Republic of Indonesia at that time,” adds ex sergeant JM. [IY, GAT]

Imung Yuniardi (Semarang)

Law and Politics, Gatra Number 42, published Friday, 7 September 2004

***

Original:

Eks Tentara mengaku: Konspirasi Xanana Gusmao dan Mahidin Simbolon

Sisi Gelap Sang Presiden Timor Leste

Jakarta, 6 September 2004 14:45

Gatra dihebohkan dengan kehadiran seorang pria berinisial JM di kantor redaksi majalah pagi ini. Lelaki yang mengaku sebagai seorang eks tentara di Divisi Satu Kompi Brawijaya dan berpenampilan cepak tersebut mengaku sudah tidak dapat lagi meredam segala rasa frustrasi dan stress yang dideritanya beberapa tahun belakangan, berhubungan dengan keterlibatannya di operasi militer ABRI/POLRI (TNI/POLRI-red) di Timor-Timur pada tahun 1994 hingga akhir tahun 1996.

Para wartawan di majalah inipun binggung dibuat oleh lelaki tersebut. Akan tetapi menjelang beberapa menit kemudian sang eks anggota ABRI mulai memaparkan kepada koresponden GATRA mengenai berbagai kertelibatanya dalam operasi pembunuhan terhadap beberapa tokoh penting gerakan pro kemerdekaan Tim-Tim yang dilancarkan pada tahun 1994 hingga 1996.

Disini koresponden majalah ini tidak begitu kaget dengan informasi bersangkutan, karena memang sudah menjadi rahasia umum bahwasanya di pertengahan tahun 90an perang di Timor-Timur sedang hangat-hangatnya dilancarkan oleh pihak ABRI/POLRI ( TNI/POLRI-red) terhadap berbagai basis pertahanan kaum gerilya Timor-Timur atau yang lebih dikenal dengan istilah ABRInya sebagai kaum GPK-Fretilin.

Akan tetapi ceritapun menjadi lebih lain dan mengagetkan ketika eks Serka. JM (yang mengaku agar namanya tetap dirahasiakan-demi keselamatan keluarganya) membeberkan segala dokumen operasi ABRI ketika itu terhadap kaum Front Clandestin dan Armed Force Timor-Timur.

Sasaran utama dari operasi tersebut adalah pemimpin dari organisasi Front Clandestin yang waktu itu dipimpin oleh comandannya Keri Laran Sabalae. Suatu hal yang sangat menarik dan juga menhebohkan adalah sifat dilematis dari operasi militer itu sendiri yang dikomandai langsung oleh Kolonel Mahidin Simbolon (pangkat Simbolon pada waktu itu) dengan bekerja sama dengan “pemimpin perlawanan” Timor-Timur Xanana Gusmao yang sedang mendekam di LP Cipinang Jakarta.

Eks Serka. JM mengakui bahwa dirinya turut hadir dalam pertemuan antara Kolonel.M Simbolon yang dilaksanakan di suatu ruang di Lembaga Permasyarakatan Cipinang di Jakarta. Inti dari pertemuan tersebut adalah keinginan dan kesanggupan Xanana Gusmao untuk “menetralkan” kelompok-kelompok radikal dalam tubuh organisasi perlawanan Timor-Timur yang menurut Xanana dapat mengancam usaha “perlawanan damai” dan rekonsiliasi dengan berbagai kelompok politik Tim-Tim yang sedang dilancarkannya untuk mempersatukan rakyat Timor-Timur.

Oleh karena itu, Xanana Gusmao menyatakan bersedia bekerjasama dengan Kol.M Simbolon untuk membasmi kaum-kaum radikal di tubuh “GPK Fretilin" yang antara lain terdiri dari beberapa komandan gerakan Fretilin dan anak buahnya dengan nama Rodak Timur, Keri Laran Sabalae, David Alex, Konis Santana dan Eli Fohorai Boot.

Nama-nama tersebut tercantum dengan sangat jelas sekali di lampiran dokumen operasi militer tahun 1994-1996 yang dibeberkan oleh eks-Serka JM. Inti dari “kerjasama” antara kubu Xanana dan M Simbolon dalah prinsip mutualisme; Simbolon dapat sukses di karir militernya dan Xanana pun menjadi lebih fleksibel dalam mengontrol gerakan perlawanan yang dikomandai olehnya dari LP Cipinang. Terlihat jelas bahwsanya sang Presiden dari negara baru Timor Leste ini telah sangat lihai sekali untuk mempertahankan kepentingan kelompoknya dengan membasmi para komandanya sendiri yang dianggap tidak loyal kepadanya ataupun kalau loyal, menurut Xanana mereka lebih mengutamakan “jalan kekerasan” untuk mencapai tujuan nasional.

Melihat kepada dokumen-dokumen dan berbagai foto yang dimiliki oleh JM kiranya sulit sekali untuk meragukan keaslian dari versi cerita ini. Ini adalah versi tersembunyi dan sisi gelap “karisma” seorang Xanana yang begitu diagung-agungkan oleh rakyatnya sendiri. Bekerjasama dengan “musuh” untuk membasmi kaumnya sendiri.

Eks Serka. JM sendiri mengaku beban yang disandangnya selama ini menjadi lebih ringan dengan pengakuannya ini. Dia sangat menyayangkan mengapa Presiden Timor Leste ini begitu liciknya untuk mengorbankan sebagian dari anggota masyarakatnya hanya untuk kepentingan dari strategi politiknya. Mengenai Mayjen. Simbolon, Serka. JM memhimbau agar Mabes TNI/POLRI harus segera menyelidiki kasus ini. Karena sifat dari operasi militer pada waktu itu adalah rahasia dari unit yang dipimpin oleh Kol.M Simbolon.. Mabes ABRI hanya mendapatkan copy lampiran hasil operasi militer setelah tewasnya beberapa komandan “GPK Fretilin”. "Oleh karena itu, Mayjen Purnawirawan.Mahidin Simbolon harus segera diselidiki mengingat “bintang- bintang di bahu” sang jenderal adalah hasil konspirasi dengan musuh Republik Indonesia pada saat itu" demikian Eks Serka JM. [IY, GAT]

Imung Yuniardi (Semarang)
[Hukum dan Politik, Gatra Nomor 42, beredar Jumat, 7 September 2004

Australia grants financial aid to East Timor

Macauhub - 2008-08-26


Canberra, Australia, 26 Aug - Australia is to grant East Timor 8 million Australian dollars in financial aid for agriculture and a military training centre, officials said in Canberra Monday.

At the end of a meeting with his Timorese counterpart Xanana Gusmão, Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd said that Australia would invest 2.4 million Australian dollars in improving Timorese agriculture, for which coffee is the main product.

He added that 5.6 million Australian dollars would be spent on building a military training centre for the East Timorese army.

The Australian prime minister also announced that the number of grants for Timorese students would be increased and that an English studies centre would be created in Dili.

The inclusion of the Timorese in the 2,500 South Pacific workers to which Australia plans to grant temporary work Visas was the main issue under discussion at the second meeting of the two heads of government, with the Australian prime minister saying only that he would continue to discuss the issue.

Job creation is one of the priorities of prime minister Gusmão, as he plans to reduce unemployment that currently stands at around 80 percent.

Before the meeting, Gusmão had said he hoped an understanding would be reached that would allow the Timorese to join workers from Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, who will be granted visas to work in Australia.

Rudd agreed to look at the proposal as part of a needs assessment for employment and training in East Timor, which is due to be concluded by the end of this year.
###

East Timor not in Australian guest worker scheme

ABC News Online
Updated August 25, 2008 19:06:01


East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao fails to convince Australia to include his country in guest worker program. [Reuters]

Australia will not be including East Timorese in its intitial guest workers program despite an approach by the country's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

The decision follows a meeting on Monday in Canberra between the East Timorese leader and the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

On the agenda was inclusion in the guest worker pilot scheme announced earlier this month.

Four countries, Tonga, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will be part of the trial program.

The program will grant seven month visas allowing employment in Australia's horticultural industry.

A number of other countries have also expressed interest including East Timor.

Following the talks Prime Minister Rudd says there is a way to go yet.

"Let's take it from the ground up there is still some work to be done on this."

Australia has agreed to funding a $US5 million defence training complex in East Timor; doubling of university scholarships for East Timorese in Australia; and other training initiatives.

In the lead up to the meeting and it became clear that one of the reasons for Mr Rudd's hestitation over East Timor's inclusion in the guest worker scheme was the revenue expected as part of Dili's share in energy sales.

But during his visit, Mr Gusmao was questioned over how his country intended to handle the posibillity that Woodside Petroleum may rule out processing gas from Greater Sunrise in East Timor.

The energy giant may pipe it to Darwin or have a floating liquefied gas plant in the Timor Sea.

"We'll look to the technical and commercial viabilities. After that we will accept any decision," he said.

Mr Gusmao also inspected the yet to be completed East Timor embassy in Canberra.

Dos leitores

Comentário na sua mensagem "Science doesn't back Ramos Horta story":

REVELACAO DA MORTE DE ALFREDO: OS TERCEIROS, QUEM SAO?

Investiguem Hercules e o MUNJ e chegarao ao Xanana Gusmao!!!

O Major Alfredo Reinado encontrou-se em contacto com frequencia com gangstar Hercules na vespera da sua visita, um dos Gangs mais influentes e mais rico na Indonesia, em Timor-Leste.
Porem, o major falecido nao sabia que o proprio Hercules e XG ja tinha feito um plano para elimina-lo. O "rogue force" que atirou o RH era o homen montado pelo XG e Hercules. Eram 8 elementos provenientes de Jacarta com autorizacao dada por XG,apoiados logistica e financeiramente pelo Hercules.

O plano era seguinte uma bala para eliminar dois alvos considerados obstaculos para governacao da AMP; Ramos Horta e o Major. Utilizando elementos treinados em Jacarta, vieram para Timor com uma missao de top secret. Eram eis elementos de Kopassus do eis General Prabowo. Sairam de Kopassus e juntaram-se ao rede mafioso de Hercules. Entre eles 3 sao timorenses eis Kopassus com um era oficial de patente Capitao naquelas forcas especiais Indonesias e os restos sao indonesios. Subordinados ao Hercules e cumpriram ordem de XG.

O plano foi tracado pelo circulo de XG. Alfredo foi apanhado no lugar errado e no momento errado. Os homens do MUNJ conspiraram com XG para convidar Alfredo ao chamado encontro com o presidente que nao existiu. Alfredo e seus homens foram traidos pelo MUNJ e ALVEJADOs por um SNIPER, e a seguir os dois (Alfredo e Leopoldinho) foram capturados pelo guarda presidencial que depois os mataram. Porem o coitadito guarda presidencial pensava que foi ele que os tinha alvejado, por isso matou o major e o seu elemento Leopoldinho sem hesitacao com tiro a queima roupa.

Os 4 elementos de Hercules tomaram as suas posicoes na monte de Bidau Santana como SNIPERS. Eles sao os terceiros nesta dramatica eleminicao de Alfredo e tentativa de assasinato do presidente Ramos Horta. Foram os outros 4 que simularam o drama de assalto ao seu patrao Xanana. Tendo sabido que o Ramos Horta afinal ainda estava vivo, seguiram com plano B de simulacao do ataque ao seu BIG BOSS para se livrar e salvar XANANA GUSMAO da culpa de morte do Major e tentativa de assasinato de Ramos Horta.

Os misteriosos terceiros (sao exactamente 8 pessoas) sao homens de Hercules que trabalham para XG e o seu governo da AMP. Foi uma missao de TOP SECRET. Nao acreditam? entao investiguem o Hercules e o MUNJ e chegarao de certeza ao Xanana Gusmao. Ainda lembram da historia de mortes de David Alex, Rodak, Sabalae e os outros elementos considerados radicais por XG? a mesma cena que agora esta acontecendo. O assasinio de sangue fria esta na accao.

Chama-se XG!

Sumber dari Jakarta
Fonte de Jacarta

Conto - O ANJO DA FÁBRICA DE MÃES

Carlos Correia Santos

Ivan respirou fundo e entrou no prédio enorme cheio de chaminés e torres. Foi recebido por uma espécie de anjo transparente, um ser que parecia feito de cristal. A criatura disse com suavidade:

“Bem-vindo à Encantada Fábrica de Mães. O que desejas?”. O menino se impacientou: “Ora, o que desejo? Se isso aqui é uma fábrica de mães, uma mãe é o que eu desejo, não é?”. O anjo quis saber: “Mas o que aconteceu com a tua? Tu a perdeste? Ela se foi?”. Ivan respondeu com tristeza: “Ela nunca existiu... Sou órfão. Nunca tive mãe”. O ser de cristal sorriu e contestou: “Isso é impossível. Todos nós temos uma em algum lugar”. O garoto se aborreceu: “Sou órfão, já disse! Como é? Vou poder ver ou não essas mulheres que vocês fabricam aqui? Quero escolher uma perfeita, sem defeitos”. A transparente figura determinou: “Entre. Tente fazer a sua escolha”.

Os dois, assim, seguiram pela infinita fábrica. Ivan viu tudo. Viu como nascem as mães. O primeiro passo é o coração. Só os melhores corações são eleitos. Depois, o colo. Um colo materno tem que ser feito do material mais macio do mundo. Tudo, cada detalhe tem que ser puro, suave, iluminado. Os braços para preciosos abraços. As mãos para as melhores carícias. Os lábios para dizer as mais sábias e educativas palavras. Os olhos para transmitir amor sereno e eterno.
Ivan viu, por fim, várias mães prontas, a espera de serem adotadas. Sempre acompanhado do anjo de cristal, examinou uma por uma. Tentou ver qual levaria consigo. Aquela baixinha com riso delicado? Não... Faltava algo nela. Aquela outra mais alta com rosto afetivo? Também, não...

Faltava alguma coisa... Acabou conhecendo centenas de candidatas. De todas as raças, de todos os jeitos, de todas as alturas, modos e formas. Nenhuma, porém, o conquistou. Nenhuma era a sua...

Após andar por toda a fábrica, o jovem sentou-se num canto e chorou. O Anjo Transparente o consolou: “Não, chore, meu querido... Não chore”. O pequeno contou: “Sinto falta de minha mãe.

Ela se foi quando eu era muito pequeno. Dizem que foi para o céu. Mas eu não agüento mais de tristeza. Por isso vim até essa fábrica. Quero encontrar uma nova alma maternal. Não quero mais ser só”.

O ser cristalino revelou: “Achas que tua mãe não está mais contigo? Tu te enganas. Ela foi chamada para viver em outro plano, mas logo voltou e sempre te acompanhou. Ela sempre esteve perto de ti. Só não podias ver. Mas ela sempre esteve perto”. O menino se levantou e olhou dentro dos olhos do anjo. Quis saber: “Como assim? Ela sempre me acompanhou?”.

A doce criatura explicou: “Há um tipo de mãe que não está aqui nessa fábrica. As mães que se transformam em anjos transparentes. Como eu, meu querido. Parece que não estamos mais ao lado dos nossos filhos, mas estamos, sim! O verdadeiro amor materno nunca vai embora”. Uma lágrima de cristal caiu pelo rosto da encantada. E ela confessou: “Eu nunca te abandonei, meu menino. Sempre estive juntinho de ti. E sempre estarei”. Ivan também chorou, mas de felicidade. Emocionado, o garoto deitou-se devagar no colo de seu Anjo de Cristal. Deitou-se e dormiu no colo de sua mãe.

*CARLOS CORREIA SANTOS é poeta, contista e dramaturgo brasileiro.

Contatos: carloscorreia.santos@gmail.com / contista@amazon.com.br

Aldrabões...

UN hits back over Ramos-Horta's 'slow reaction' claim

Posted Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:14pm AEST

The United Nations has rejected an accusation by the East Timorese President that it was slow to react after an attempted assassination in February.

Jose Ramos-Horta said international forces did not move quickly enough to give him medical aid and arrest the rebel soldiers who attempted to kill him.

But in a leaked version of a report on the shooting, the UN suggests that sending a nurse to aid the wounded President may well have saved his life.

The UN says that the East Timorese Government itself waited two days before pursuing the rebels.

- BBC

NOTA:

Mandaram uma enfermeira??? A assistência médica que Ramos-Horta recebeu não foi de nenhuma "enfermeira" enviada pela ONU. Mas sim do INEM que se deslocou ao local com a GNR...

ONU não vai diminuir efectivos na missão estacionada no país

Notícias Lusófonas
24.08.2008

As Nações Unidas vão manter o seu actual efectivo em Timor-Leste, garantiu hoje em Díli o representante interino do secretário-geral da ONU, no encontro que manteve com o ministro da Justiça português.


A Missão Integrada da ONU em Timor-Leste (UNMIT) conta actualmente com 1.533 polícias (entre os quais militares da GNR e agentes da PSP) e 33 oficiais de ligação.

O encontro do representante interino Finn Reske-Nielsen com o ministro Alberto Costa realizou-se no âmbito da visita oficial de três dias que o governante português iniciou quinta-feira a Timor-Leste.

Num comunicado enviado à Lusa refere-se que no encontro com o representante interino da ONU "foi ainda abordada a colaboração de Portugal na área da justiça, tendo em vista a actual agenda legislativa em Timor-Leste, nomeadamente, o Código Penal, Código civil, Lei da Protecção de Testemunhas e Lei sobre questões de Justiça juvenil, a aguardar aprovação, e que contam com a colaboração portuguesa".

"O ministro da Justiça transmitiu ao representante das Nações Unidas o compromisso de Portugal em alargar a cooperação na área da justiça com a introdução de novas tecnologias e de novos métodos de trabalho nos tribunais, bem como na área dos registos e notariado", lê-se no comunicado.

Neste segundo dia da visita a Timor-Leste, Alberto Costa visitou o Parlamento Nacional, o Tribunal de Recursos, que tem competências de Tribunal Constitucional, e o Tribunal Distrital de Díli, terminando a jornada com um encontro com o secretário-geral da FRETILIN, partido na oposição com a maior bancada eleita no parlamento, Mari Alkatiri.

No primeiro dia, Alberto Costa assinou dois protocolos de cooperação na área da justiça com a sua homóloga timorense, Lúcia Lobato, depois de ter sido recebido pelo Presidente José Ramos-Horta e pelo primeiro-ministro Xanana Gusmão.

O primeiro acordo, de cariz bilateral, foi firmado entre os Ministérios da Justiça dos dois países e visa a assistência técnica em várias áreas, a formação de quadros e o apoio na elaboração de legislação específica que necessite de maior aprofundamento.

O segundo protocolo envolveu, além dos Ministérios da Justiça de ambos os países, a participação do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), e respeita à definição do enquadramento para a realização de missões de juízes e procuradores portugueses.

A cooperação portuguesa na área da Justiça, na vertente multilateral, apoiou já com 3 milhões de dólares (2 milhões de euros), entre 2006 e 2008, o programa do PNUD, que funciona com o apoio da Austrália, Brasil, Espanha, EUA, Irlanda, Noruega, Portugal e Suécia.

Este programa visa a formação de juízes, procuradores e defensores públicos timorenses, tendo o terceiro curso nesse âmbito começado no final de Julho passado.

A nível bilateral, a cooperação portuguesa tem neste momento quatro assessores jurídicos no Ministério da Justiça, dois deles no Gabinete da Ministra Lúcia Lobato e outros dois na Direcção Nacional de Assessoria Jurídica e Legislação.

No plano multilateral, em colaboração com o PNUD, há uma equipa de seis oficiais de Justiça, que se prevê venha a ser alargada em breve para oito elementos.

Neste caso, Portugal assume os salários e o PNUD assegura as viagens e a remuneração complementar.

Ainda no âmbito da cooperação multilateral, estão em Timor-Leste três guardas prisionais a dar formação por um período de um ano.

The Reinado Tapes

The Australian - Friday, August 22, 2008

Features: The Reinado Tapes
Paul Toohey

Jose Ramos Horta and Alfredo Reinado had reached an impasse at their final encounter, writes Paul Toohey

A SECRET recording of the last meeting between East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado reveals that the two men had run out of ways to end a stalemate that had held the country moribund for almost two years.

The recording, obtained by The Australian, was made by Reinado on January 13 on a small digital recorder hidden in his top pocket at a meeting in the western hilltop town of Maubisse.
Just before Reinado died, he handed it to a friend for safekeeping.

Reinado was gunned down at almost point-blank range inside Ramos Horta's villa on February 11, while the President survived after being shot twice, apparently by Reinado's rebels. The rebels say Reinado told them he had a 6am appointment with Ramos Horta and point out they dawdled on the way to Dili, stopping in places to kill time to arrive at the appointed hour.

Although no one suggests Ramos Horta made the appointment, the January meeting reveals how frustrated he and senior government figures had become with Reinado. It is possible that Reinado, who was relying on Ramos Horta to solve his problems, lost patience and stormed Ramos Horta's villa.

An alternative theory is that Reinado had been falsely informed the President wanted to see him and was set up for his death by powerbrokers who sought his elimination.

Ramos Horta had warned Reinado that if an agreement was not reached on that day, then ``there are no more other opportunities. If the President of the republic has come and a
solution is not found, then what other solution is there? These are my words.''

Four men attended the meeting: Ramos Horta, Economy and Development Minister Joao Goncalves, Reinado and Reinado's second-in-command Gastao Salsinha, who is now in jail.

Waiting outside was Major Mike Stone of the Australian Defence Force, now assigned to Ramos Horta's staff; and Reinado's lawyer, Benevides Correia Barros.

The meeting was a failed final attempt to end a two-year impasse that plunged the country into civil strife after about 600 soldiers from western Timor deserted and fled to the hills, claiming the army leadership was favouring soldiers from the east for promotion. Reinado eventually joined the petitioners, but his case was different: the courts had issued an arrest warrant for him on murder charges, after he had engaged in a deadly firefight with the army in 2006.

Ramos Horta went to the meeting believing that the group acting as mediators between him and Reinado, the Movement for National Unity and Justice (MUNJ), had secured a commitment from the rebel to surrender weapons he had unlawfully seized from border police in early 2007.

Ramos Horta discovered that Reinado had made no such promise.

The rebel argued he had shown good faith in 2006 by surrendering his weapons to then president Xanana Gusmao. He said Gusmao had promised that the surrender was just a formality intended to restore public faith and that he would get his weapons back.

Reinado told Ramos Horta that Gusmao had betrayed him by not returning the weapons, and this led him to raid the border posts to obtain guns.

Ramos Horta regarded the surrender of weapons as essential for him to offer Reinado a guarantee of amnesty in the context of the murder charges.

``You told MUNJ you accepted the solution of compromise that I have presented,'' the President said.

Reinado said: ``I have the right, as military, to protect myself.''

Ramos Horta, angrily: ``We have spoken of this many times, major.''

Reinado: ``And I have never changed my position, Mr President.''

Ramos Horta reminded Reinado that he, not Reinado, was supreme commander of the army. ``The command does some things wrong but there is in no country or any state which, after such efforts, would accept your attitude,'' he said.

``Many opportunities have been given to you. Many opportunities. I have said many times already that during these months that good, positive behaviour will help to stabilise the situation.

``Many people don't understand; many suspect that I would also support you from behind. I don't. I only look to do dialogue and dialogue and dialogue. I try to look at the problems from each side.

``However, major Alfredo Reinado, the moment has come that we must go forward, meet each other, to bow to each other, because the reason is not 100 per cent on your side or 100 per cent on the side of the Government or FFDTL (the Timorese defence force). If you want to show the community that we can find solutions for the problem and show that only you are right, then there is no solution.''

The recording adds force to the argument that Reinado's lover, Angelita Pires, who has been accused of being Reinado's puppeteer, was not as influential as has been claimed. Pires was
not at the meeting and Reinado's stubbornness is clearly of his own making.

Reinado had earlier written to the President saying he was prepared to be placed under house arrest in Dili, with a New Zealand guard, while awaiting his trial in a military court. (Timor has no such court.) He no longer trusted Australian troops because he felt they were encroaching on his turf.

The President said it would be better if Reinado stayed out of Dili and that he would have to surrender to the authorities for house arrest while awaiting trial. But ``that is only a formality'', he added. He said he would use ``indirect pressure'' to persuade the prosecutor-general to allow Reinado to remain free while awaiting trial.

However, Ramos Horta warned that he had no power over the courts, even though he had infuriated them by ignoring the warrants and issuing freedom-of-movement letters that ordered
the security forces not to arrest Reinado. Ramos Horta said an amnesty law would be passed on May 20 that could lead to his freedom. But Reinado was aware the President had no legislative
power and could guarantee no such outcome.

Salsinha insisted he and the petitioners were still serving members of the army. However, Salsinha and his men had been sacked in early 2006 and Ramos Horta made it clear that the
army's head, Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, did not want them back. ``Taur says we will not accept them to come back because we already sacked them,'' the President told the rebels.
He said he would return to Dili and try to persuade Matan Ruak that the soldiers could reapply to join the army or be paid out to go away.

Reinado retorted that all serving members of the military -- not just the rebels -- should be put through a triaging process to reapply for the military and to prove their worth. He challenged
serving soldiers to a physical test to see who was better.

Ramos Horta was contemptuous of Salsinha and did not address him by his rank.

He took a different view of Reinado, regarding him as a serving officer who needed to face justice.

In a strange aside, the President said to Reinado: ``While we are in this process, I ask yourselves to please keep an eye. I heard that from the border the Indonesians are bringing weapons in.''

Reinado agreed this was the case and asked the President to give him the authority to raise a battalion to protect the border. Ramos Horta did not respond.

The meeting ended after one more attempt by Ramos Horta to persuade Reinado to surrender his weapons. ``No, Mr President,'' Reinado responded. ``It's like this. I also have the right to
protect myself.''

Ramos Horta made a half-hearted suggestion that they meet again in a few days, but no date was set. It appears as though Ramos Horta had given up on Reinado. The two men never saw each other again.

Goncalves told a reporter after the shootings that Reinado had agreed to surrender and submit to justice on January 13. ``He agreed. A deal was essentially done,'' Goncalves was reported as
saying. That clearly was not the case.

Three days after the meeting, Leon de Riedmatten from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue wrote to Reinado on behalf of Ramos Horta, informing him that the military was reluctant to
reintegrate the petitioners into the army but reassuring him that he would remain free and that no military operation would be conducted against him.

Gusmao, the East Timorese army, the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force and the courts had all tired of Reinado and regarded him as a common criminal.

Ramos Horta, the Nobel peace laureate, was the only one who saw hope. The President was the only one Reinado would listen to.

But after two years of Reinado demanding justice but refusing to face the courts, it is clear that Ramos Horta, too, was running out of patience.

De Riedmatten told Reinado the President had to travel overseas in January and would not be able to meet him that month. He promised that Ramos Horta would meet him again ``before the
middle of February''. However, the President made further plans to travel overseas in mid-February and again cancelled the meeting with Reinado.

On February 6, Australian troops entered Reinado's hilltop zone, which led to a three-hour stand-off, with the rebels firing shots in the air. It is possible that Reinado thought he was
close to being arrested and that his one hope in the world, Ramos Horta, had left him for dead.

Novos políticos preparam futuro

Rádio Renascença
19-08-2008 10:00

A historia do país escreve-se com nomes ligados à resistência, mas agora há uma nova geração de dirigentes timorenses a preparar-se para liderar o país.

Ramos Horta, Xanana Gusmão, Mari Alkatiri e os irmãos Carrascalão. Há varias décadas que são estes os rostos da politica timorense, antes e depois da independência. Mas há caras novas à espreita.

“A nossa geração, dentro em breve, terá de ser reformada e eles estão mais preparados do que nós, quando tínhamos a sua idade, inclusive alguns já são ministros”, afirma Mário Carrascalão, líder do PSD timorense.

É o caso do actual chefe da diplomacia, Zacarias da Costa, mas, também, de Arcangelo Leite, o ministro da Administração Estatal, agora com 42 anos. Aos poucos vai-se afirmando uma nova geração de políticos, incluindo o líder do PD, que é também presidente do Parlamento e assumiu interinamente a chefia do Estado, após o atentado contra Ramos Horta. Fernando Lassama Araújo, diz que não faltam novos políticos. “A nova geração está a formar-se com o seu envolvimento no Parlamento Nacional e no Governo. Está mostrar competências e capacidades elevadas”.

Também a Fretilin, na oposição, está a preparar novos quadros. Mari Alkatiri lembra, por exemplo, que Arsenio Bano já é vice-presidente do partido aos 33 anos.

Cx/Pedro Mesquita

Informação Imprensa: Visita a Timor-Leste de S. Ex.ª o Ministro da Justiça de Portugal

Embaixada de Portugal em Díli - 21 de Agosto de 2008

A Embaixada de Portugal informa que S. Ex.ª o Ministro da Justiça de Portugal, Dr. Alberto Costa, realizará entre 21 e 23 do corrente, uma Visita à República Democrática de Timor-Leste, a convite da sua homóloga, Dra. Lúcia Lobato, com o objectivo de estreitar os laços de amizade e cooperação existentes.
S. Ex.ª o Ministro da Justiça de Portugal manterá encontros com Suas Excelências o Presidente da República, o Presidente do Parlamento Nacional, o Primeiro Ministro, o Presidente do Tribunal de Recurso, o Procurador-Geral da República, o Provedor dos Direitos Humanos e Justiça, o Secretário-Geral da FRETILIN, e com o Representante Especial do Secretário-Geral das Nações Unidas.

Durante a deslocação a Timor-Leste, com o objectivo de aprofundar o apoio ao fortalecimento do sistema de Justiça, encontra-se prevista a assinatura de um protocolo de cooperação bilateral entre os Ministérios da Justiça de Portugal e de Timor-Leste, e de um protocolo definidor do enquadramento das futuras missões de magistrados portugueses em Timor-Leste, entre o Ministério da Justiça de Portugal, o Ministério da Justiça de Timor-Leste e o Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD).
S. Ex.ª o Ministro da Justiça de Portugal prestará igualmente homenagem às vítimas do massacre de Santa Cruz e deslocar-se-á ao Museu e Arquivo da Resistência Timorense. Manterá também contacto com juristas e técnicos portugueses, e com representantes das Forças de Segurança e Forças Armadas de Portugal que exercem funções em Timor-Leste.
No quadro do Programa Indicativo de Cooperação 2007-2010, celebrado entre os Governos de Portugal e de Timor-Leste, a cooperação no sector da Justiça constitui um dos eixos prioritários de intervenção da Cooperação Portuguesa. O apoio e o desenvolvimento de projectos de cooperação no sector da Justiça resulta da definição prévia de prioridades e necessidades pelas autoridades timorenses, donde tem decorrido a necessária articulação com os demais parceiros internacionais, com o intuito de contribuir para o fortalecimento do Estado de Direito e o respeito pelos Direitos do Homem em Timor-Leste.

Science doesn't back Ramos Horta story

The Australian
Comment Paul Toohey August 19, 2008

EAST Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has delivered a furious tirade against The Australian, accusing it of inventing an article.

The story in The Australian said rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado was shot dead at almost point-blank range inside his compound on February 11.

Ramos Horta told the Timor Post that this newspaper and Australian forensic authorities were trying to destabilise his nation by suggesting Reinado and his offsider, Leopoldino Exposto, were shot at close range.

The President and the Timor Post have misunderstood the story. They seem to think The Australian commissioned an independent report from the Victorian Institute of Medicine on Reinado’s wounds.

The story was in fact based on the Reinado autopsy conducted first-hand by East Timor’s head forensic pathologist, Dr Muhumad Nurul Islam.

Dr Nurul reported that Reinado had blackening and burning around each of his four bullet wounds and said he had been shot with a high-velocity rifle “at close range”.

Dr Nurul said Leopoldino was shot in the centre of the back of his head, also at close range.
Dr Nurul’s report raised questions of reported claims that Reinado had been shot at a distance of 10m to 15m by a guard who had taken up a sniper position.

The Australian went to Professor David Ranson, of the Victoria Institute of Forensic medicine to ask about the general nature of gunshot wounds. Professor Ranson said that blackening and burning only appeared when a gun was fired at almost point-blank range.

This was not just Professor Ranson’s view. Forensic pathologists across the world agree this only occurs when rifles are fired at near-contact, or point-blank, range.

One inference to draw from this is that Reinado and Leopoldino were executed or possibly detained before being shot.

The President has reason to be angry, but not at The Australian or the Victorian Institute of Medicine.

He should be angry that he was left lying wounded on a road outside his compound for 30 minutes before help arrived.

Where were his guards when he was fighting for life?

He should be angry that his personal security guard who accompanied him for his morning jog along the beach allowed him to return to his home with gunfire ringing out across the valley.

He should be angry that security forces – local and international - did not catch the rebels that morning as they raced off and hid in the nearby hills.

He should also be angry that UN and police investigators allowed people to tramp all over the crime scene, even answering Reinado’s phone as he lay dead inside the President’s compound.

He should look again at the photos of the dead Reinado, and ask himself why Reinado’s body can be seen in different positions. The body has been tampered with.

Because the rebels escaped, they had time to stash or switch weapons, meaning reliable ballistics information pertaining to the weapons used that morning has been lost.

Most of all, the President should be angry with himself.

It was Ramos Horta who acted unconstitutionally in drawing up “letters of comfort” that allowed the armed rebels with arrest warrants to remain free, despite the repeated demands of the Dili Court that they be detained.

This deeply annoyed the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force, who believed Reinado was a common criminal who needed to be brought to justice.

But Ramos Horta had an unflagging self-belief that he, and he alone, could resolve the crisis. Events show that he could not.

Ramos Horta maintains that Reinado and Leopoldino were shot from a distance. Science suggests otherwise.


NOTA:

As forças militares australianas pactuaram com Ramos-Horta e não o aconselharam nunca a deter Reinado.

East Timor/Indonesia: 'Restorative Justice' is Justice Denied?

Inter Press Service - Monday, August 18, 2008
Analysis by Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE - East Timor’s most prominent independence leaders -- currently holders of the young nation’s two highest political offices -- may now be the main obstacles to obtaining justice
for victims of the 1999 referendum-related violence.

The final report by the Indonesia and East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) -- established by the two countries in 2005 with the objective of obtaining "the conclusive truth in
regards to the events prior to and directly after the popular consultation in 1999" when, according to the United Nations, some 1,000 people were killed -- was handed to East Timor
President José Ramos Horta and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Jul.15 in Bali.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was invaded and occupied by Indonesia in 1975 but won independence through a referendum organised by the United Nations in 1999. It became fully independent in 2002 after a period under U.N. administration.

While the CTF found that gross human rights abuses were committed by both pro-autonomy and pro-independence Timorese around the time of the independence referendum -- in which close to 80 percent of voters rejected the proposed "special autonomy" status as part of Indonesia -- the report alluded to the Indonesian military (TNI) as an institution which was
particularly complicit in the violence.

"The commission concluded that Indonesia also bears state responsibility for those gross human rights violations [such as murder, rape, torture, illegal detention and forced mass deportations] that were committed by militias with the support and/or participation of Indonesian institutions and their members," states the CTF.

While Yudhoyono expressed his "deepest regret" for the victims, Indonesia was quick to quash any idea that those responsible would be brought to justice. The President ruled out prosecutions of the perpetrators, stressing that the CTF was about institutional rather than individual responsibility.

Prior to the report being presented to the two leaders, Indonesian defence minister Juwono Sudarsono said that the aim of the CTF was "restorative justice."

It was a point also made by Ramos Horta, who added that the victims’ legacy would be the avoidance of repeating atrocities like those of 1999 as well as creating stronger bonds between
the two countries. He said that East Timor (also known as Timor Leste in the Portuguese) would not be seeking an international tribunal to try those responsible.

Ramos Horta and Yudhoyono were joined by East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão -- Ramos Horta’s fellow independence hero -- in signing a joint statement declaring "we are determined to bring a closure to a chapter of our recent past’’.

While the reactions of Indonesia’s leaders are politically expedient given the possible ramifications if investigations for individual responsibility of human rights violations were
carried to their full extent, the desire to bring about "closure" on the part of East Timor’s leaders means they are complicit in denying the rights of the victims.

Effectively, the leaders’ desire to brush-over past injustices undermines earlier reports on the occupation, such as the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation of East Timor
-- whose recommendations for accountability remain largely unimplemented -- and inquiries backed by the United Nations.

The support of the CTF by Ramos Horta and Gusmão lends a false sense of legitimacy to the process. It provides Indonesia with a justification for not implementing the recommendations of
previous reports and mitigates the chance of reforming the powerful TNI.

Their support also enables other governments to back the CTF, rather than heeding calls for the perpetrators to face judicial justice.

And such calls are being made. Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) -- including the two nations’ leading human rights groups, Association HAK of Timor-Leste and Indonesia’s
KONTRAS -- issued a joint statement on the same day the CTF released its report to the two presidents.

"Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia’s invasion and occupation of Timor-Leste must be identified and prosecuted, for the sake of justice for past victims in Timor-Leste and for a future in which human rights are respected in Indonesia," said the NGOs, calling for a further judicial mechanism in order to assign individual responsibility for those crimes.

Among the concerns raised by the NGOs was that the CTF "put a priority on rehabilitating the names of accused perpetrators over justice or compensation for victims". The organisations
were critical of the commission’s lack of power to recommend prosecutions and the "inadequate" protection of witnesses, as well as its "narrow" focus on the events of 1999.

The East Timor National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) -- a grouping of several rights groups which includes victims’ families -- also opposed the CTF. "The process of
creating the CTF did not follow the Constitution of Timor-Leste because the agreement signed by the presidents of Timor-Leste and Indonesia was not ratified by the national parliament of
Timor-Leste, in accordance with article 95 (3f) of the Timor-Leste Constitution," said ANTI.

Additionally, ANTI argues that the assigning of institutional, instead of individual, responsibility for human rights violations "is contrary to the principles of international laws which were ratified by the state of Timor-Leste and to Article 160 of its constitution which says that there must be a justice process for crimes against humanity."

But opposition to the CTF has not only been voiced by civil society. The U.N. did not support the process as it opposed the CTF’s ability to recommend amnesty for those who committed gross
human rights abuses.

Given their past support of the process, the responses from Ramos Horta and Gusmão were not surprising. However, it means that East Timor’s relations with its massive neighbour are
taking precedence over justice for victims of the Indonesian-sponsored violence.

Essentially, by viewing the CTF as the "final word" on the 1999 bloodshed, the two most highly respected leaders of Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence are allowing the perpetrators of the violence to literally get away with murder.

"CTF is only one mechanism of addressing or looking at what atrocities may have happened in the country… there is also something called prosecution," Allison Cooper, spokeswoman for
the U.N.’s mission in East Timor was quoted as saying at a press conference in Dili on Aug. 6.

In 2003 Indonesia’s former armed forces chief, Gen. Wiranto, was indicted by U.N. prosecutors for his role in the violence surrounding East Timor’s independence.

An attempt to "move on" from the past might make economic and political sense to leaders of the fledgling nation, but as men who have known their own share of injustice at the hands of
Indonesia -- four of Ramos Horta’s eleven siblings were killed during the brutal occupation while Gusmão spent seven years in an Indonesian prison following his 1992 capture -- they, like
many of their compatriots, can understand that "restorative justice" is, in fact, justice denied.

Conto: O SEGREDO DOS PASSARINHOS

Carlos Correia Santos*

Há meses, muitos meses, Deco não conseguia mais sonhar. O menino caía na cama, fechava os olhos e acordava no dia seguinte com a certeza de que não vivera nenhuma aventura durante o sono. As coisas ficaram ainda mais esquisitas quando percebeu algo curioso: tinha parado de sonhar exatamente no dia em que ganhara um especial presente: a gaiola com o bonito passarinho que enfeitava seu quarto. O bichinho parecia triste. Não cantava. Vivia mofino.

Esquisito. Muito esquisito. Veio outra noite e lá estava Deco sem conseguir pregar os olhos e descansar. Desolado, começou a falar sozinho: "Que chato isso! O que está acontecendo, afinal? Por que não consigo mais ter sonhos? Nem um sonhinho! Nada!".

De repente, para a sua total surpresa, a ave presa na gaiola se pronunciou: "Se tu conhecesses o segredo dos passarinhos, saberias por qual razão paraste de sonhar...". Nosso amigo pulou da cama, assustado. Santa Maria, estava tendo pesadelo, era isso?! O pequeno ser trancado na gaiola voltou a se manifestar: "Quando nossas asas são presas, os sonhos param de voar". O garoto tremia. Não conseguia reagir. Tremia e tremia. Estava ouvindo um animal falando!!! Tremia e tremia. Cheio de suavidade, o pássaro achou graça e fez um sereno pedido: "Tire-me daqui... Tire-me daqui e eu explico tudo". Deco foi, voltou. Olhou para o ser falante, afastou-se. No final, bastante nervoso, abriu a portinhola e trouxe para fora a criaturinha com todo cuidado.

Apertada entre os dedos de seu suposto dono, a ave fez novo pedido: "Deixe-me solto. Vais entender o que esta se passando. Deixe-me solto". O jovem atendeu a solicitação. Abriu as mãos. Viu seu companheiro atravessar a janela e partir no rumo do céu noturno. Mas o passarinho não foi embora. Não. A incrível criatura parou no ar e fez um inesperado convite para Deco: "Venha enxergar o que quase ninguém enxerga. Venha conhecer o nosso segredo". O outro se aproximou das persianas escancaradas e descobriu uma cena belíssima. No silencio da madruga, milhões de pássaros indo de lá para cá. Eles entravam nos quartos das casas e prédios, paravam sobre as camas de todo mundo, ouviam os desejos de cada um e zarpavam em direção às nuvens, levando todas aquelas informações.

Quando chegavam no ponto mais distante de todas as alturas, encontravam os anjos e para eles entregavam as vontades e mistérios que haviam coletado. Sentados em torno da lua, os anjinhos transformavam tudo aquilo em imagens cheias de fantasia. As aves, então, voltavam para a terra e plantavam todos aqueles sonhos nos corações dos adormecidos. Deco estava emocionado com aquele espetáculo. O antigo prisioneiro que morava em seu quarto falou: "Esse é o segredo dos passarinhos. É, sim. Temos a missão de transportar o sonhar de todo mundo. As pessoas que nos prendem perdem a capacidade de fazer a imaginação bater asas por aí".

O bichinho voltou para perto do menino. Pousando em seus dedos, continuou a conversa: "Agora a escolha é tua. Vais me colocar de novo na gaiola ou vais me deixar livre?". O rapazinho suspirou profundamente, sorriu e respondeu: "Quero que meus sonhos nunca parem de voar. É claro que eu te liberto. Para sempre!". Assim, como quem espalha poesia pelo universo, o passarinho se foi.

Seu canto encantado ecoou por todos os lugares, por todas as dimensões. Deco fechou a janela, deitou-se em sua cama e adormeceu tranqüilamente.

Carlos Correia Santos é poeta, contista e dramaturgo premiado pela Funarte na categoria infanto-juvenil em 2003 e 2005 e no Edital Curta Criança do Ministério da Cultura. Contatos: carloscorreia.santos@gmail.com

Ilustração: Wendell Pimenta. Contato: wendellpimenta@gmail.com

Doubt over Timor shooting

Sydney Morning Herald
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin August 19, 2008

EVIDENCE has emerged that challenges the belief that East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta was shot by a member of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado's gang.

Investigators now believe the shooter was wearing a different uniform from that of Reinado's men - a uniform gang members used to wear, The Age has learnt.

The revelation will fuel fresh speculation in Dili that Reinado was lured to Mr Ramos Horta's house, where gunmen were waiting.
Mario Carrascalao, a key member of East Timor's ruling coalition, said yesterday that more than six months after the attacks "we still don't know what happened".

"For me, all the stories that have been told here - I don't trust them," he said.

Mr Carrascalao called for the immediate release of a prosecutor-general's report into the attacks and the establishment of an independent inquiry into "what happened and more importantly why it happened".

Fretilin, the main opposition party, has made similar demands.

"We can't put aside the possibility that Alfredo was set up," said Mr Carrascalao, head of the Social Democrat Party.

A post-mortem report released last week showed that Reinado and one of his men were shot dead at close range inside Mr Ramos Horta's house compound, which led to speculation in Dili that they were executed.

For months after the attacks, Timorese were led to believe that Marcelo Caetano, one of Reinado's men, shot Mr Ramos Horta twice at the front gate of the President's home.

But Mr Ramos Horta realised that Caetano was not the gunman when he met him in Dili after the rebel had surrendered in April.

Caetano, who is in jail in Dili with 21 other rebels, has admitted he was at Mr Ramos Horta's house but denied he shot the President.

Other rebels have signed statements claiming that Reinado told them he was taking them to Dili for a pre-arranged meeting with Mr Ramos Horta, who knew nothing about it and was taking his morning walk when the rebel group arrived at his house on February 11.

Mr Ramos Horta was wounded when he hurried back to the house after hearing shots. He spent two months recovering at Royal Darwin Hospital after life-saving surgery.

Mr Carrascalao, an Indonesia-era governor and one of East Timor's most powerful politicians, said he did not believe that Reinado would have gone to Mr Ramos Horta's house to kill him or harm him.

"It makes no sense … the President was the one person who was trying to save Alfredo," he said.

Mr Carrascalao said an independent inquiry, which is being resisted by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, should be conducted by Timorese with the support of international technical advisers.

Magistrados portugueses vão passar a ter melhores condições de trabalho

Lisboa, 19 Ago (Lusa) - Os magistrados portugueses que forem trabalhar para Timor-Leste vão passar a ter melhores condições de trabalho, mantendo o vencimento e os subsídios a que têm direito em Portugal, disse hoje à Lusa o ministro da Justiça.

Alberto Costa, que inicia quinta-feira uma visita oficial de três dias a Timor-Leste, referiu que aquela matéria será objecto de um protocolo a assinar com as autoridades timorenses e que "cria um quadro para o desempenho de funções por parte de magistrados judiciais e do Ministério Público em Timor-Leste".

"Esse quadro, até ao momento, não estava definido e vai, com este acordo, passar a estar, designadamente as condições de trabalho para garantir que os magistrados que tenham interesse desempenhem as suas funções para uma ordem jurídica que carece do seu contributo", afirmou Alberto Costa.

O estabelecimento deste quadro, que abrange desde as carreiras profissionais até à remuneração, vai preencher o vazio que existia e que se traduzia no desinteresse de magistrados portugueses em ir trabalhar para Timor-Leste, ao serviço das Nações Unidas.

"Até agora, não existia um quadro jurídico pré-definido. Existiam diversas soluções casuísticas que às vezes geravam problemas, nomeadamente a continuidade de um ou outro juiz. Agora, o que passa a existir é um processo de recrutamento regulado, desencadeado por iniciativa das autoridades de Timor-Leste, com intervenção de órgãos em Portugal, como o Conselho Superior de Magistratura ou a Procuradoria-geral da República", explicou.

Alberto Costa precisou que o protocolo que vai ser assinado passa a definir as condições que são concedidas a estes magistrados, que incluem, da parte portuguesa, "o respectivo vencimento e os subsídios a que têm direito, tal como aconteceria se estivessem em Portugal".

"Todos os seus direitos e deveres são acautelados", frisou.

Do lado das Nações Unidas e do Governo timorense ficam as responsabilidades de garantia de habitação, alimentação e transportes.

O segundo protocolo que vai ser assinado nesta deslocação oficial abrange todas as actividades tuteladas pelos ministérios da Justiça de Portugal e Timor-Leste.

"O objectivo é promover a colaboração em toda a área da justiça. Desde a formação até à disponibilização de peritos, passando pela transferência de boas práticas neste domínio, elaboração de legislação, e as formas de colaboração à distância, nomeadamente através do uso de correio electrónico e de videoconferência para resolver problemas que se colocam no plano jurídico, através da colaboração de profissionais dos dois países", destacou.

"A cooperação entre Portugal e Timor-Leste estava a precisar que fosse assegurado um quadro alargado de cooperação, que incluísse elementos de modernização da ordem jurídica, não apenas os tão importantes elementos da formação de juristas e de técnicos e oficias de justiça", defendeu.

"Pretendemos dar continuidade e valorizar a cooperação judicial. A justiça é mesmo a prioridade da nossa cooperação com Timor-Leste", garantiu.

Durante os três dias que permanecerá em Timor-Leste, a convite da sua homóloga, Lúcia Lobato, Alberto Costa tem previsto encontros com o Presidente de República, José Ramos-Horta, o primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão, e o presidente do Parlamento Nacional, Fernando "Lasama" Araújo.

Reuniões de trabalho com o presidente do Tribunal de Recurso, Cláudio Ximenes, o Procurador-Geral da República, Longuinhos Monteiro, e o representante especial do secretário-geral da ONU, Atul Khare, estão igualmente agendadas.

EL.
Lusa/Fim

Longuinhos Monteiro nega execução de Alfredo Reinado

EFE - 18 Agosto 2008

Sydney (Austrália) - O procurador-geral do Timor-Leste, Longuinhos Monteiro, negou hoje que o líder rebelde Alfredo Reinado tenha sido executado quando, em Fevereiro, tentou assassinar o presidente timorense, José Ramos Horta.

Monteiro disse à imprensa que os resultados da autópsia revelados na semana passada por um jornal australiano não são definitivos, porque a investigação sobre o atentado ainda não terminou.

O jornal "The Australian" informou que Reinado e Leopoldino Exposto, outro soldado rebelde, levaram tiros à queima-roupa na nuca, local que teria sido muito difícil atingir em uma troca de disparos.

Segundo os médicos australianos que realizaram a autópsia, é impossível que as marcas de bala do cadáver de Reinado tenham sido causados por disparos de soldados a mais de dez metros de distância, como sustenta a versão oficial.

Caso seja confirmada, a execução do líder rebelde pode gerar novas tensões no Timor-Leste, que desde que obteve a independência, em 2002, luta para conseguir uma estabilidade política que lhe permita se concentrar no desenvolvimento económico.Os fatos ainda estão sendo investigados pela Procuradoria Geral e por um comité especial das Nações Unidas.

Em 11 de Fevereiro, Ramos Horta ficou gravemente ferido no atentado cometido em frente à casa dele e no qual Reinado morreu, enquanto o primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão, saiu ileso do ataque contra ele.

Jailed E Timor rebels hiding the truth

The Australian:
Jailed E Timor rebels hiding the truth
Paul Toohey August 18, 2008

INSIDE the Hotel Becora, as they call Dili's prison, some of the 22 men who face spending the rest of their lives behind bars for the attempted murders of East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao are starting to talk.

The Australian has obtained the first accounts from rebels inside Becora. None of them admits to shooting the President, even though Mr Ramos Horta had identified Marcelo Caeteno as his attacker.

The rebels, who spent weeks on the run before surrendering, had plenty of time to work on their story. Because they are all condemned by the deed, they all deny it. They admit one group went to the President's compound and another went to the Prime Minister's house but say, no, they never shot nor ambushed anyone.

Many East Timorese believe the whole thing was a set-up; that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was invited down to Dili to be killed, to end the two-year stand-off in which he and his rebel band remained armed and roaming the hills in the country's west.

The Australian revealed last week that autopsy reports showed Reinado and fellow rebel Leopoldino Exposto were shot dead at almost point-blank range inside Mr Ramos Horta's villa.

The shootings had the hallmarks of executions, causing the main opposition party, Fretilin, to demand an international investigation into the events of February 11.

"What The Australian has reported reinforces our calls," Fretilin MP Jose Teixeira said. "It cannot be ignored any longer."

If the authorities have anything to hide, so do the rebels, who are protecting themselves and a hazy political group called MUNJ, or the Movement for National Unity and Justice, whose members spent the day before the shootings with the rebels and had supplied vehicles that were used to drive down to Dili.

On that morning, Reinado's second-in-command, Lieutenant Gastao Salsinha, positioned a second group of men in ambush below the Prime Minister's house. Some of Salsinha's group have admitted to firing shots in the air, but none has confessed to firing into Mr Gusmao's vehicle, which was reportedly hit by six bullets fired from four directions.

The rebels were part of a larger group of about 600 Western-born soldiers or military police who abandoned barracks in early 2006, claiming there was discrimination in the army leading to eastern-born soldiers being favoured for promotions.

The dispute took the country close to civil war.

The interviews with the rebels inside Becora, conducted by someone who must remain anonymous, are with key rebels Amaro Suarez da Costa, better known as Susar, and Gilberto Suni Mota, and Egidio Lay, who were part of the group that went to Mr Ramos Horta's home.

Susar was the first rebel to surrender after 19 days on the run. He says he was sleeping in a shack a few kilometres away from Reinado's mountain hideaway at Luala, in the western district of Ermera, when Reinado woke him at 3.30am.

"Suddenly, the major, he came to get me in my house," Susar says. "He just said to me, 'We're going to Dili. The President called us to talk'."

Twelve men went with Reinado in two cars, while 10 were with Salsinha in another two cars.

Susar says: "When we left Luala we drove really slow, because the meeting was at 6am. The idea was for us to go there, meet at 6am, talk, talk, talk, then go back to Ermera."

Susar says Reinado stalled for time so as not to be too early to the meeting.

Upon arrival, at 6am, they found two guards at the President's gate.

"When we got out of the vehicle, (guard) Kelimut started to arm his weapon," Susar says. "I started to think: 'What's going on? We came to meet the President and the security is acting in this manner.' So the major said: 'Calm down, calm down'. Major said: '(Where's) The President?'

"Kelimut said: 'Oh, the President's gone to exercise'."

Susar says he stood by the gate, apparently preventing those guards from raising the alarm while Reinado, Leopoldino, Lay and Suni Mota went in.

Susar claims the men were not wearing balaclavas, which is at odds with the accounts of the presidential guard.

Susar admits that two of the rebels - he does not say who - returned from inside the compound having taken a machinegun and an automatic rifle from apparently sleeping guards.

Susar says he never stepped inside the compound. "No. I didn't even ... go slightly in. My weapon, it was pointed down. We didn't go for a shootout. If we went there for a shootout, obviously I wouldn't come."

It was not until Susar heard shots that he loaded his weapon.

So how many minutes from when you arrived at the gate till when you heard the shots, from when the car parked till the major died, he is asked.

"Five minutes, maybe less," he says. "It didn't even get to five minutes. I can tell you it was really fast."

Was there an exchange of fire after Reinado was shot? "We never shot at anybody," Susar says.

"We retreated. I only shot up, as warning shots. Because if we just waited there, the Australian forces and the tanks would've closed all the ways. We didn't go there to shoot. I had to shoot up, to warn the boys to get out. They were shooting at us."

Did he see Ramos Horta returning? "I didn't even see his holy spirit. Never," Susar says.
Susar says he cannot explain how the tragedy happened.

"I don't know," he says. "It was the major. We came because of him. And then he died."

Suni Mota's and Lay's accounts of the morning of the shootings are similar: they say Reinado was shot inside the President's home, after which they ran like crazy, not looking back. They say they don't know who shot the President.

Suni Mota and Lay were with Reinado on February 10. Both men insist no MUNJ representative was with Reinado the day before the attacks. They focus on a visit from Reinado's lover, Australian-East Timorese citizen Angelita Pires, who has been blamed by Mr Ramos Horta and the prosecutor-general for influencing the events of February 11.

Ms Pires brought four people with her to Reinado's on the day before the shooting: her Australian-Timorese friends, Teresa and Victor de Sousa, and their small son; and an older woman, Eliza Morato, who had arrived from Australia with greetings for Reinado from his relatives. Ms Morato took photos of Reinado and his group, which now form part of the investigation case.

When shown one of Ms Morato's photos, both Suni Mota and Lay identify a MUNJ representative, Cancio Pereira, standing with Reinado and the rebels.

MUNJ had acted as the negotiator between Reinado and Mr Ramos Horta, who was attempting to solve the standoff. MUNJ was pro-Reinado, and on January 7, resigned from a taskforce set up to deal with Reinado, claiming the Government was not showing sufficient will to end the crisis.

As the interviews reveal, MUNJ was indeed there, which raises questions as to whether it played a role in influencing Reinado to go to Dili.

No MUNJ member has been charged over the shootings, though Mr Pereira and fellow MUNJ member Lucas Soares have been questioned and have had their passports confiscated.

MUNJ co-ordinator Augusto Junior Trinidade declined to speak to The Australian.

FRETILIN, opposition parties and some AMP MPs join forces to increase budget allocation for poverty stricken veterans

FRENTE REVOLUCIONÁRIA DO TIMOR-LESTE INDEPENDENTE
FRETILIN
Media Release
August 18, 2008


FRETILIN, KOTA-PPT, PUN, ASDT and other AMP MPs joined forces to amend the budget presented by the Gusmao de facto Government, to immediately start paying the liberation war veterans' pensions, at a cost of US$20 million. "Our proposal succeeded despite strong opposition by de facto Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Finance Minister Emilia Pires to the very end," said Josefa Soares Pereira, FRETILIN Parliamentary Party Secretary and MP.

Soares and FRETILIN MP Osorio Florindo put forward the proposal during the budget debate which ended on 31 July 2008, in the Timor-Leste National Parliament, because the government could not explain why veterans were going to be made to wait a further six months or more for payment of their much needed pensions.

"It seemed to us unjust and unnecessary for the government to continue to deny these impoverished veterans their pensions, when they have been quite prepared to make a priority of special payments to deserters from the defence force. These veterans in contrast sacrificed themselves and their families so that we can have the freedom and sovereign nation we have today," she said.

In 2006 the FRETILIN dominated parliament passed a law establishing the criteria and mechanism to determine payment of pensions to veterans and their families, but the collection and verification of data as to who is a veteran was the task of three commissions established since 2002 under the auspices of then president Xanana Gusmao. The then President continued to insist that there was insufficient verification for the database compiled by the commissions to be used as the basis for commencing payment of pensions to veterans.

"It was a source of frustration for us who have tried to promote the cause of the veterans, that there was this constant proposition coming from the then president, now de facto Prime Minister, that the database was not ready. Yet in late 2006 and in the first half of 2007, before the parliamentary elections it was good enough to use the database to award around 17,000 medals of honor to veterans and their survivors. This issue was politicized by political figures in the campaign, including Mr Gusmao, and FRETILIN was painted as neglectful and mean for not paying the veterans," added Soares.

"But when it comes to an outrageously high spending budget on largesse such as luxury cars for MPs, overseas travel for Ministers and others in government, rehabilitation of homes for ministers and others, they forget about the veterans and keep saying the database needs to be fixed. We don't accept that anymore and are happy that the majority of the parliament agreed with us. Now it is a matter for the government to cut out the fat it has for travel, entertainment and other luxuries to make sure the veterans are paid," Soares stressed.

To date only 238 or so veterans have received any payments whatsoever, with a tens of thousands still awaiting any payment, whilst living in extreme poverty. The FRETILIN government's attempts to pay the veterans in the time prior to the elections in 2007 were also met with a dead end response from the veterans commission, which was under the control of Mr Gusmao.

"We do not want any more excuses from Mr Gusmao and Mr Virgilio Simith, the Secretary of State who is the chair of the veterans commissions. They have had five years to come up with the numbers for the veterans. They have done a poor job and we need to have an investigation into the numerous complaints that have been made by both veterans and development partners who gave millions of dollars towards the process. Mr Gusmao and Mr Simith have to be held responsible.

"We insist on this, but most of all, it's the Veterans, including MPs who are veterans and supported our proposal for amendment, who spoke out in these terms. It's time to act. The government must act or be held further responsible for the neglect of the veterans, for which Mr Gusmao and his appointees must carry their share of the responsibility," Soares said in closing.

The budget which was rammed through by the AMP de facto government is currently the subject of a constitutional appeal by FRETILIN, and is awaiting promulgation by President Jose Ramos-Horta who has held back from proclaiming it subject to the court's decision. FRETILIN MPs believe that one of the few areas warranting a revision was in the case of the additional US$20 million, which can be accommodated in the revised budget, by cutting extravagant and wasteful items, and without any need to withdraw in excess of the sustainable income set by the Petroleum Fund Law rules.

For more info, contact Jose Teixeira: +61 438 114 960 (Australia), +670 728 7080 (Dili, Timor-Leste)

É TUDO UMA QUESTÃO DE APRENDERMOS

In Blog Timor Lorosae Nação:

Segunda-feira, 18 de Agosto de 2008
É TUDO UMA QUESTÃO DE APRENDERMOS
Por KLAUDIO BEREK

ABENÇOADO TIMORENSE EMIGRADO

Os comentários, a face oculta dos blogues que se abre com um clique e nos pode mostrar uma vastidão de opiniões sobre o artigo correspondente ou divagações que às vezes nos conseguem baralhar ou até indispor.

Mas os comentários também podem trazer-nos muita coisa boa, principalmente quando são postados por gente honesta, simples, objectiva, que fazem lembrar a quase totalidade dos timorenses de há mais de um quarto de século.
É o caso do exemplo que se segue, assinado por um timorense emigrado em Inglaterra, que sacrificou o seu “canudo” de um curso universitário para ganhar para si e para a família em Timor e assim proporcionar uma melhor instrução e educação aos seus irmãos na longínqua Pátria. Um sacrifício que gostaríamos imenso de saber que foi compensado. Uma opção de alguém muito grande em tudo, mas principalmente nos laços consanguíneos e no patriotismo.

Um timorense garboso e exemplar.

TIMORENSE EMIGRADO - comentário na mensagem "O ARROZ E O CIRCO EM TIMOR-LESTE ":



Sou um dos timorenses enviados para Portugal para estudar. Em Portugal aprendi a falar e a escrever em português.

Ao fim de três anos o meu português já estava em condições de me servir dele para tirar um curso superior, mas, em vez disso vim para a Inglaterra atrás dos meus conterrâneos porque a bolsa que o governo me dava não era suficiente para fazer uma vida normal de estudante.

O trabalho aqui é duro mas ganho bom dinheiro, que dá para mim e para mandar para os meus familiares que ficaram em Timor-Leste.
Os meus irmãos estão a estudar com o dinheiro que lhes mando mensalmente. Eles vão poder ser futuros líderes do meu país.

Não estou a adquirir grandes conhecimentos mas quero voltar para a minha terra e ser alguém lá.

Através deste "blog" sei que há uma grande discussão sobre quem é melhor, o Governo da FRETILIN ou o Governo da AMP.

Estou muito confuso, por isso eu peço aos entendidos que escrevem neste blog para me dizerem qual é a diferença verdadeira entre esses dois governos.Podem fazer-me esse favor? Eu agradeço do coração. - Timorense Emigrado

QUEM AGRADECE SOMOS NÓS

“Podem fazer-me esse favor? Eu agradeço do coração.”
Somos nós, TLN, que temos de agradecer do fundo dos nossos corações pela franqueza e pela postura deste nosso querido amigo. Agradecemos ainda pela forma como nos sensibilizou com a sua presença tão humana em prosa tão curta num simples comentário.
Muito obrigado por ser como é.

Quanto ao favor que nos pede afirmamos, sem favor, que não sabemos dar-lhe a resposta correcta de modo tão taxativo, como parece pretender.

Pergunta-nos “qual é a diferença verdadeira entre esses dois governos” – Fretilin e AMP.

Sabemos as diferenças, na nossa óptica, mas não sabemos tudo sobre as diferenças, ninguém sabe, nem os próprios intervenientes.

As diferenças visíveis entre a Fretilin e a AMP são abissais porque um é um partido representante de determinado número de timorenses, um partido político histórico - que como todos os partidos históricos tem tido altos e baixos - e a AMP que é quase nada, que tanto quanto parece nem existe legalmente, mas que sabemos ser uma agremiação de partidos políticos que se associaram para com os resultados dos seus votos superarem em número o partido timorense mais votado, formando assim uma maioria parlamentar que proporciona suporte ao governo dito da AMP mas que no fundo é mais um governo de Xanana Gusmão e de flutuantes acordos de conveniência nada transparentes e que algumas vezes acusam de serem inconvenientes para os interesses do país.

Estranhamente, para nós, ao contrário daquilo que se passa em países democráticos – onde o partido mais votado é quem governa, como é o caso de Inglaterra – em Timor-Leste o partido mais votado encontra-se na oposição e Timor-Leste é governado por representantes de partidos que obtiveram percentagens muito menores, minorias.

Minorias essas que, qual manta de retalhos, todas juntas superam em número de votos e de deputados a opositora Fretilin.

Em nossa opinião é um exercício de democracia inconcebível, principalmente porque não se apresentou ao eleitorado como AMP, nem sequer a ventilar essa possibilidade. Fica sempre a pergunta que não terá resposta: o que aconteceria se a AMP fosse legal e apresentada à votação nas eleições legislativas passadas?

As circunstâncias de Timor-Leste logo após a independência e actualmente são completamente diferentes. Não existem paralelos que nos permitam comparar e avaliar com fiabilidade as actuações de um e outro governo.
Actualmente, aquilo que nos é proporcionado saber é que Xanana Gusmão partiu para a corrida a primeiro-ministro através de um acto anti-democrático, com destruição, mortos e deslocados à mistura, e que desde 2006 nos tem trazido de surpresa desagradável em surpresa desagradável.

Ao responsável-mor do governo da AMP foi-lhe retirada a definição de herói e muitas outras lhe foram já dadas de forma negativa: golpista, traidor, etc. Ao seu governo e à sua pessoa, enquanto primeiro-ministro, vão sendo colados rótulos de corrupção como o caso do “negócio do arroz” – negócio realmente muito suspeito e com todos os contornos de corrupção.

Suspeito é, também, para muitos, em Timor-Leste e noutros países, sobre o 11 de Fevereiro e a morte de Alfredo Reinado – que agora se sabe ter sido executado – aventando-se ainda a possibilidade de o seu atentado em Balibar ter sido forjado e não mais representar que um “golpe de teatro”, para não referir suspeições no atentado ao presidente Ramos Horta.
Por favor, com estas evidências e tantas suspeitas quem é que quer um primeiro-ministro de um governo arquitectado sobre pressão… ou chantagem.

Repare-se que quando se fala em AMP, governo AMP, vai-se direitinho a Xanana, portanto quase se pode dizer que a AMP não existe, ou melhor, aparenta existir para dar cobertura e suporte a Xanana Gusmão e à sua democracia mascarada, da qual José Ramos Horta é cúmplice, presumivelmente chantageado.

A Fretilin será melhor, governaria melhor?

Na política, como em muitas outras circunstâncias, não podemos meter as mãos no fogo. Nem pensar nisso.

Aquilo que se pode concluir é que, comparativamente, a Fretilin, ou Mari Alkatiri, seu eleito responsável máximo, não derrubaram governo com golpe de Estado, nem com violência, mortos e desalojados às centenas de milhares.

Na anterior governação da Fretilin, limitada como estava, foi mostrado o inequívoco exercício da defesa da independência do país face aos interesses sobre o Mar de Timor e de outros mais que foram negociados. Aliás, o seu derrube, o derrube daquele governo legítimo, teve por objectivo facilitar aos interesses económicos estrangeiros apoderarem-se de Timor-Leste. Xanana Gusmão é quem acusam de lhes “abrir a porta”. Tudo indica que é isso que temos visto e continuaremos ver… se continuar no cargo de primeiro-ministro e super-ministro dos petróleos e da defesa – tem Timor nas mãos.

A Fretilin é melhor?

Pelo menos não fez tanta “nojeira política” em tão pouco tempo e herdou um país destruído, sem infraestruturas. Aliás, foi derrubada inconstitucionalmente, pela força, pela chantagem política e de perda de vidas, de casas e pequenos negócios, entre outras malfeitorias que aterrorizaram as populações e que estão sempre na ordem do dia como ameaça latente, como se viu há poucos dias na chantagem usada por Xanana para que o Presidente da República assinasse a aprovação de um orçamento composto por parte de um Orçamento Rectificativo deslumbrante que o Tribunal de Recurso deve decidir da sua inconstitucionalidade ou não e que está relacionado com o “negócio do arroz” em que estão envolvidas personalidades que aos timorenses merecem sérias reservas, mas que são do circulo de amizades do primeiro-ministro.

Foi uma resposta longa que não desejo que influencie quem quer que seja sem que antes constate sobre a veracidade dos argumentos, porque é assim que os interpreto.

Esta exposição teve um mérito para mim. Acabei por entender bem melhor porque combato a governação de Xanana Gusmão e os seus métodos de se livrar dos opositores.

Ver sobre esta perspectiva, para mim, é muito mais importante do que neste momento analisar a anterior governação Fretilin, ou fazer vatícinios, porque as actuais circunstâncias são extremamente diferentes.

Como disse: na política não se deve pôr as mãos no fogo… e muito menos em Timor-Leste.

Ao Timorense Emigrante fico muito grato, desejando tudo que de melhor houver para ele e para os seus familiares, fique ou não de acordo com aquilo que opino e exponho com sinceridade e tolerância pelos que comigo discordam e possam contribuir para um melhor esclarecimento, democraticamente.

É tudo uma questão de aprendermos.

Pequim2008: Timor Leste - Inexperiente Mariana Ximénes desiste na maratona

** Rui Barbosa Batista, Agência Lusa **

Pequim, 17 Ago (Lusa) – Apenas um mês de treino resultou no previsível abandono da timorense Mariana Dias Ximénes na exigente prova da maratona dos Jogos Olímpicos, na qual participou a convite do Comité Olímpico Internacional, no âmbito do programa de solidariedade olímpica.

“Pensava que vinha fazer os 10.000 metros. Só treinei um mês para a maratona, por isso foi muito difícil para mim. Tentei acabar a prova, mas não deu. Doíam-me os pés”, contou a atleta, que pediu “muita desculpa ao povo de Timor Leste e ao presidente por ter desistido”.

Mariana Dias Ximénes chegou a Pequim2008 com apenas uma experiência na prova de 42.195 quilómetros, com uma marca na casa das 2:59 horas, quando o recorde do Mundo, da britânica Paula Radcliffe, é de 2:15.25.

Durante o mês de preparação Mariana treinou duas horas de manhã e outra à tarde.

A atleta de 24 anos, que estuda gestão bancária em Bali, Indonésia, onde vive com os pais, está “muito feliz” por ter representado Timor Leste nos Jogos Olímpicos – é acompanhada por Augusto Soares, também maratonista – lembrando que quer “o melhor” para o seu país.

Para futuro, revelou um desejo surpreendente: “Gostava que em Timor pudéssemos ter um estádio como este (“Ninho do Pássaro”), mas não sei quando (será possível)”.

RBA.
Lusa/fim.