Timorese president out of coma after attack

East Timor : East Timor president José Ramos-Horta has regained consciousness from a coma after being shot 10 days ago in an assassination attempt and is talking to his family in an Australian hospital.

"Doctors are pleased with his progress," a spokeswoman for Royal Darwin Hospital said yesterday.

Nobel laureate Ramos-Horta was shot and critically wounded at his home in Dili last week in an attack by rebel soldiers. Prime minister Xanana Gusmão escaped injury in another shooting on the same day.

Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by followers of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who was killed during the attack on the president.

Mr Ramos-Horta (58) was shot twice in the back and chest. He was put on life support, placed in a drug-induced coma and airlifted to Darwin where he underwent a series of operations.

Darwin hospital staff could not say whether Mr Ramos-Horta would require further surgery or how long he would remain in hospital.

Warrants have been issued for 17 people suspected of being involved in the attack, while police and international troops have been hunting for rebels in hills near Dili.

- (Reuters)

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times