By ANTARA News,
Dili : The leader of an East Timor group which tried to assassinate the fledgling country`s president and prime minister is close to surrender, a UN spokeswoman said Friday.
She said authorities were in talks with Gastao Salsinha, the right-hand man of major Alfredo Reinado who was killed leading coordinated armed attacks on Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta on February 11.
“He is in a house in a village near Gleno in Ermera (district). He has agreed not to leave this house and as soon as his men join him he will hand himself over to the authorities,” UN spokeswoman Allison Cooper told AFP.
The UN mission in East Timor could not confirm comments from East Timorese politicians and military sources that the fugitive had already been taken into custody.
Deputy Prime Minister Jose-Luis Guterres said: “We have to applaud Salsinha and his people because of their courage to surrender and face justice.”
Salsinha tops the list of those most wanted over the attacks which nearly killed Ramos-Horta but left Gusmao unscathed.
Reinado and one of his men were killed when they attacked the residence of Ramos-Horta, who was shot several times, while Gusmao escaped unharmed from a simultaneous ambush on his convoy.
A state of emergency remains in force in Ermera district, 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of the capital, where the rebel former soldiers are believed to be hiding.
Authorities have issued 23 arrest warrants over the assassination attempts.