Military chief urges rebels who carried out attacks on leaders to surrender

(16 Feb 2008) SHOTLIST
Hera Sub District, Dili
1. Sign outside headquarters of East Timor Defence Naval Base
2. Wide of guard post
3. East Timor Defence Forces at the guard post
4. Soldier
5. Various of Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Chief of East Timor Defence Force, arriving
6. Cutaway of journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Chief of East Timor Defence Force:
"After the operation by International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Dare, Dili, East Timor, many of them are now been hiding in houses as well as in the jungle."
9. Cutaway of cameraman
10. East Timor Defence Force officer taking notes
11. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Chief of East Timor Defence Force:
"This is the last ultimatum. I want to reinforce to (rebel commander, Gustao) Salsinha and his group to search for a good way to prove their contribution to a peaceful solution in this country."
12. Cutaway of journalist
13. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, Chief of East Timor Defence Force:
"I appeal to all (rebel) soldiers to gather with the others at the concentration camp, which has prepared by the government."
14. News conference ends
STORYLINE
East Timor's army joined the hunt for rebels blamed for attacks against the country's top two leaders, the army chief said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, President Jose Ramos-Horta, who won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for decades of peaceful resistance to Indonesian occupation, was recovering from gunshot wounds at an Australian hospital.
Rebels on Monday shot Ramos-Horta outside his home.
His guards killed wanted militant leader Alfredo Reinado during the attack. An hour later, gunmen opened fire on Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, but he escaped unhurt.
The East Timor Defence Force joined Australian-led foreign troops in the search for more than 30 militants hiding out in the hillside jungle outside the capital, national army chief Taur Matan Ruak told reporters Saturday.
He said some people were sheltering the rebels in their homes and he was asking for permission to search them, adding that his forces were not intending to kill the fugitives.
Arrest warrants for 17 suspects in the attacks were issued on Friday, and prosecutors said that number was expected to increase.
Monday's events were part of an ongoing dispute between the government and a group of several hundred rebels who were fired from the army in 2006 after going on strike to protest against alleged discrimination.
They also underscored the challenges facing East Timor's young democracy six years after independence.
With the risk of escalating violence, Australia this week reinforced its presence in East Timor to more than 1,000 army and military personnel and sent a warship to waters off the coast.
United Nations police patrolled the streets and cars were being searched for weapons under a state of emergency declared through to 23 February.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, broke from 24 years of Indonesian occupation in 1999, when 1,500 people were killed by militias and departing Indonesian troops.
After three years of UN governance, it declared independence in 2002.
The tiny Southeast Asian nation of a million people descended into chaos again in April 2006 when the security forces disintegrated into warring factions and the government collapsed amid widespread looting and arson.
Gunbattles and gang warfare killed 37 people and more than 150,000 were forced to leave their homes. Tens of thousands still live in squalid camps.

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