Ramos Horta and Reinado had amnesty deal
The AgeLindsay MurdochFebruary 16, 2008
Jose Ramos Horta and Alfredo Reinado, a month before the attack on the President.
Photo: Glenn CampbellTHIS is the moment (right) when Jose Ramos Horta thought he had secured a peaceful future for East Timor. Standing on the steps of the ruins of an old Portuguese fort in East Timor's rugged mountains, the country's President smiles and shakes hands with rebel leader Alfredo Reinado on a secret deal that would see Reinado pardoned for murder and armed rebellion in an amnesty on May 20, the anniversary of East Timor gaining independence. The two men then sat down for a feast of goat, lamb and chicken, served with fine wines. They departed in high spirits."I'm off to a cockfight," Reinado said with a grin as he drove away.
Four weeks later Reinado, a cult hero figure to many young Timorese, is dead and Mr Ramos Horta is fighting for his life in Royal Darwin Hospital, suffering from gunshot wounds. Exclusive photographs of the men's meeting, obtained by The Age, show that Mr Ramos Horta went unarmed and unescorted to the fort.
Reinado, then East Timor's most wanted man, had secured it, his heavily armed men standing guard at strategic locations along the fort's crumbling walls.The deal they struck included Reinado being put under house arrest, guarded by New Zealand troops as he faced court before the pardon that would also include his men.
But in the weeks after the meeting Reinado, who had been on the run for 17 months after leading a mass jail escape, became deeply paranoid and delusional and feared he was losing his authority.