East Timor president shot in coup attempt

Rebel soldiers shot and badly wounded East Timor's president and opened fire on the prime minister in what was said to be a failed coup in the recently-independent nation.

Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, who was shot in the stomach, was in a stable condition today, while prime minister Xanana Gusmao escaped unhurt when his motorcade was attacked.

Army spokesman Major Domingos da Camara said notorious rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack against the home of Mr Ramos-Horta, while one of the president's guards also died.

"The state came under attack. I consider this incident a coup attempt against the state by Reinado and it failed," Mr Gusmao told reporters today.

"The attempt to kill the prime minister and president failed, and only the president was injured."

Australia said today it was sending more troops and police to East Timor in response to the attacks.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the East Timorese government had asked for the extra security help, which would comprise a "company strength" deployment of troops and up to 70 more Australian Federal Police and be sent as soon as it could be arranged.

"For there to be a co-ordinated attempt to assassinate the democratically-elected leadership of a close friend and neighbour of Australia's is a deeply disturbing development," Mr Rudd said today in Canberra, the national capital.

Australia currently leads of multi-national security force in East Timor. Rudd said Australian troop numbers in East Timor would total about 1,000 after the new deployment.

Last night's attacks plunged the tiny country into fresh uncertainty after the sacking of 600 mutinous soldiers in 2006 triggered unrest that killed 37 people, displaced more than 150,000 others and led to the collapse of the government.

Reinado was one of several army commanders who joined the mutiny. While most have returned home, Reinado and an unknown number of armed supporters had remained in hiding, refusing pleas to surrender.

Mr Ramos-Horta was being operated on in Australian army hospital, said Mr Gusmao.

An East Timor diplomat in Australia, Consul General Abel Guterres, said Mr Ramos-Horta would be airlifted to Darwin, Australia, for treatment.

Mr Gusmao urged the volatile country to stay calm.

"I also appeal to the people not to spread any false rumours and information," he said.

Two cars carrying rebel soldiers passed Mr Ramos-Horta's house on the outskirts of the capital, Dili, at around 7am local time and began shooting, da Camara said. The guards returned fire.

Reinado was due to go on trial in absentia for his alleged role in several deadly shootings between police and military units during the violence in 2006. He was briefly arrested but escaped from jail later the same year and had since evaded capture.

Despite the outstanding murder charges, Mr Ramos-Horta had met Reinado on several occasions since last year to persuade him to give himself up.

The attack on Mr Gusmao's car was led by another of the rebel commanders, Gustao Salsinha, said one of Mr Gusmao's bodyguards.

Australian-led troops restored calm following the 2006 turmoil and peaceful elections were held in which Mr Ramos-Horta was elected president. Low-level violence had continued in the country of a million people since then.

Deposed prime minister Mari Alkatiri has maintained Mr Ramos-Horta's government was illegitimate. His political party immediately condemned last night's attacks.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, gained independence in 2002 after voting to break free from more than two decades of brutal Indonesian occupation in a United Nations-sponsored ballot.

Mr Gusmao, who led the armed struggle against the occupation, has vowed along with Mr Ramos-Horta to tackle rampant poverty and restore damaged relations between the country's police and army.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned last month that East Timor risked lapsing back into unrest if lingering resentment following the 2006 violence was not addressed by the government and the UN, which is currently policing the nation.

Mr Ramos-Horta shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with countryman Bishop Carlos Belo for leading a non-violent struggle against the occupation.