[Marxism] Was "coup leader" victim of a set-up in East Timor?

[Louis Proyect]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/etim-s02.shtml
East Timor: Leaked autopsy report shows alleged "coup" leader Reinado 
shot at point-blank range
By Patrick O'Connor
2 September 2008

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Two leaked autopsy reports—which have been published in full on the 
Wikileaks web site—definitively refute the official version of the 
events of February 11 in East Timor, according to which former major 
Alfredo Reinado had engaged in a shoot-out with President Jose Ramos 
Horta's security forces while attempting to storm the president's 
residence. This was supposedly part of either a coup attempt or 
planned assassination of both Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana 
Gusmao. The available evidence now strongly points to the 
likelihood—raised by the World Socialist Web Site from the very 
outset—that Reinado was set up and lured to Dili in order to be murdered.

Reinado's autopsy report indicates that he died after being shot 
through the eye at near point-blank range. According to a forensic 
expert consulted by the Australian newspaper, the autopsy's finding 
of "burning/blackening of the surrounding skin" to each of Reinado's 
four wounds (to the eye, chest, neck, and hand) means that he must 
have been shot from a range of less than 30 centimetres. The report 
on Reinado's colleague Leopoldino Exposto found that he was killed by 
a single gunshot to the back of the head, also by a "high-velocity 
rifle fired at close range".

Reinado and his men were heavily armed when they entered Ramos 
Horta's house in the early morning of February 11. The autopsies 
reported that Reinado was wearing a green vest with 12 magazines 
containing a total of "347 live ammunitions" in the pockets. Exposto 
had one magazine with 39 live ammunitions in his vest, as well as a 
bag with another 98 live ammunitions. It is inconceivable that 
Reinado—who had received militarily training in Australia—could have 
led his men into a hostile operation against Ramos Horta but was then 
somehow shot at point-blank range while not a single presidential 
guard was wounded.

Reinado's men, who have since been arrested, have all sworn that they 
understood that they had an appointment to meet with the president. 
Several civilian witnesses have now backed this testimony.

For months after the former major's killing and Ramos Horta's 
wounding the Australian press echoed the official line presented by 
both the Timorese and Australian governments. Deeply sceptical 
statements issued by a number of senior political figures in Dili 
went unreported, most notably those of Fretilin leader and former 
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who declared he had photographic proof 
that the alleged attack on Gusmao's vehicle had been staged.

The official version of events is now so implausible and discredited 
that even the Australian media feel obligated to change tack.

After reviewing the autopsy evidence, the Australian's Paul Toohey 
concluded on August 13: "What is certain is that the events inside 
the villa that morning are not as clear as previously presented, and 
may have involved Reinado and Exposto either walking into a trap or 
being held at close quarters before being shot." A later article in 
the same newspaper added: "Many East Timorese believe the whole thing 
was a set-up; that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was invited down to 
Dili to be killed, to end the two-year stand-off in which he and his 
rebel band remained armed and roaming the hills in the country's west."

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