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East Timor: President Ramos-Horta Recovering |
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
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Eleven days after an attack that left East Timor’s head of state in an induced coma, President Ramos-Horta is showing signs of recovery.Below is an article published by the BBC:Doctors treating Jose Ramos-Horta said he was recovering slowly and had spoken briefly to his family.Mr Ramos-Horta was airlifted to an Australian hospital after rebel soldiers shot him at his home in Dili.Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack and Australian-led troops are now searching for his followers.The rebels also shot at a car carrying Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, but he was not hurt.Agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have arrived in East Timor to help investigate the attacks.Mr Ramos-Horta, who received bullet wounds to the back and chest, has undergone a series of operations at the Australian hospital."Doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital have reported that President Jose Ramos-Horta continued his steady recovery today and is slowly waking up," his spokesman, Luke Gosling, said in a statement."The president has said a few words to family and is resting," he said.East Timor has been under a state of emergency since the 11 February [2008] attacks, with troops and international peacekeepers maintaining a heavy presence.At least 17 arrest warrants have been issued in connection with the attacks, which have been attributed to a group of renegade soldiers with grievances dating back to the violence that paralysed East Timor in May 2006.Australian and other soldiers - invited into East Timor in the wake of the violence - are now searching the hills outside Dili for the armed rebels. |
