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Timor's new rebel leader won't give up without a fight

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Australian Associated Press - February 16, 2008

The man who claims to be the new leader of East Timor's fugitive rebels says he's heavily armed and will not surrender without a fight.

Former Army Lieutenant Gastao Salsinha says he has assumed command of the rebels, after leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the lead up to Monday's attack on East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta. Salsinha says he's in hiding in a house in the capital, Dili.

"If the East Timorese army comes to capture me, I will defend myself," he has told Channel Nine. "I am also a soldier so I have dignity as a soldier, if a soldier comes to attack me I will fight back."

But he said he would surrender if his supporters asked him to. "If my supporters are willing me to turn myself into the government, then I will be ready to do it."

Salsinha said he was not "the enemy of Australia" and supported the presence of foreign troops in the country because "they are here to help us, the people of East Timor".

He described Monday's attacks – which saw Ramos-Horta shot and wounded, and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escape unharmed after an ambush – as part of a "very complicated" plan. He would not say whether the rebels wanted to kill the two leaders, or simply kidnap them.

But he added: "If we wanted to kill him (Ramos-Horta) we would kill him directly". "I will not tell you what was the plan of this attack, but I will tell you when I go to court."

Salsinha said Reinado concocted the plan because he "saw that something was not going well". He would not elaborate. With Reinado dead, Salsinha said he was now the leader of the rebels.

"He (Alfredo) is my chief commander and I am the deputy – he got killed already, of course I will replace him," he said. "My objective is to fight for justice. We want everyone in East Timor to live peacefully without fear, with justice. That's what we are hoping to do."

East Timor's prosecutor general has issued 12 arrest warrants over Monday's violence, including one for Salsinha for allegedly leading the ambush targeting Gusmao. Another five warrants are expected to be issued today.

Reinado and Salsinha were among 600 mutinous soldiers dismissed by East Timor's government in 2006, triggering violence in which 37 people were killed and more than 150,000 people forced from their homes.

Salsinha said Reinado was killed on Monday by Timorese troops, about 25 minutes before the president was shot. "My commander Alfredo Reinado went to Metiaut (where Ramos-Horta's house is). He was killed first by the F-FDTL (East Timorese army), and about 25 minutes later the president got shot."

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