Govt denies Horta accusation of RI involvement in assassination attempt

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 04/21/2008 12:54 PM | Headlines

The government here said Sunday it found no evidence linking Indonesian citizens with an assassination attempt that almost claimed the life of Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta.

There was no evidence indicating a role of any Indonesian individuals in the February 11 attempt, presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.

"Based on evidence we have collected so far, there are no Indonesian citizens involved in the assassination attempt," he told The Jakarta Post.

Dino was responding to Horta's allegations that an Indonesian private TV station and officials of East Nusa Tenggara had facilitated Maj. Alfredo Reinado's travel to Jakarta ahead of the assassination attempt.

At a press conference in Dili last Friday, Horta accused MetroTV of helping fugitive rebel Reinado visit Jakarta for an interview in May 2007.

Reinado was killed in one of two simultaneous attacks on Feb. 11 which targeted both Horta and Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Horta questioned how the rebel leader, for whom an arrest warrant had been issued, managed to enter Indonesia after the president specifically requested that the Timor Leste-Indonesia border be closed following an attack by Reinado on a border post.

"Last year he went to Indonesia with false documents. Who issued him the false documents?

"He stayed in a hotel in Jakarta, gave an interview to Metro Television pretending to be inside East Timor. It was a lie. We knew it was done in Jakarta," Horta was quoted as saying by ABC.

He specifically accused MetroTV journalist Desi Anwar, who he said organized the interview, of breaching a fundamental code of ethics and violating Timor Leste's law.

Horta said MetroTV and other Indonesian elements' actions contributed to the assassination attempt and that he could not rest until the truth of their involvement with Reinado was uncovered.

MetroTV dismissed all accusations against it and Desi.

"It is not true at all. We are a TV station, not an institution to issue documents. What we do is just interviewing, and broadcasting, nothing else," MetroTV deputy chief editor Makroen Sanjaya told the Post.

Dino, too, rejected any possible involvement of Desi and MetroTV, saying such an interview did not mean they helped Reinado.

"Journalists can interview anyone. But that does not mean they gave help. Unless we have strong evidence, we can't say anyone was involved," Dino said.

Horta, who returned Thursday following two months of medical treatment in Australia, said Thursday that elements in Australia and Indonesia were involved in the attacks.

On Friday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was surprised at the reports.

He said Timor Leste leaders should not issue any statement to insinuate involvement on the part of Indonesia, which may cause confusion or misinterpretation by the international community and for the Indonesian people, and disrupt both countries' bilateral relations.

But Horta said Sunday he had not intended to implicate Indonesia or the Indonesian armed forces.

"It was a misrepresentation by the media. I always said 'individuals in Indonesia'. These individuals can be East Timorese, or they may already have become Indonesian citizens," Horta was quoted by AFP as saying after attending a church service at Dili Cathedral.

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