EAST TIMOR:An autopsy of East Timor rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and a top lieutenant pointed to their execution, rather than a shooting by security forces during a presidential assassination attempt, revealed a report yesterday.
The autopsy showed rebel soldier Leopoldino Exposto was shot once in the back of the head at "close range" following the February 11th assassination attempt on president Jose Ramos Horta, the Australian newspaper said.
Reinado, the 42-year-old army major who led a year-long mutiny against the government, was also shot and killed at Ramos Horta's presidential compound and four bullet entry wounds showed he was shot at extremely close range.
"There were multiple complex gunshot wound on the left face surrounding the left eye, base of nose, upper cheek and forehead with laceration and blackening of the skin," Reinado's autopsy said.
Reports of executions by security forces could stoke fresh tensions in the fledgling country, where ethnic tensions are still raw.
East Timor has been unable to achieve stability since its hard-won independence, with the army splitting along regional lines in 2006, triggering violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes.
The autopsy said burning and blackening around Reinado's wounds in the eye, neck, chest and hand suggested he had been shot at a distance of less than 30cm, not by guards standing 10m away, which is the official version.
"Burning and blackening is a feature of very close-range shots, probably from less than a foot away.
"If you see burning and soot-type burning, it indicates that the barrel of the gun was very close to the skin's surface," said David Ranson, of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Ramos Horta was critically wounded in the assassination attempt and he spent two months recovering in Australia, where he was flown for life-saving surgery.
The attack also targeted prime minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped injury. - ( Reuters)