Military says East Timor rebel leader shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): An East Timorese rebel leader died of bullet wounds Wednesday after a gun battle in Baucau, 130 kilometers east of Dili, the military said yesterday.

Soldiers shot David Alex, 48, in the thigh and arm at about 11 a.m. when they raided his cave hideout in Caibada village, East Timor Army chief Brig. Gen. Syahrir M.S. said.

He died of blood loss in Dili's Wira Husada Hospital at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Syahrir was quoted by Antara as saying.

Five other separatist rebels in the hideout had been captured alive, he said. The cave was only 300 metres from a residential area.

The military had identified Alex as the deputy commander of the Fretilin separatist movement's armed wing. He reportedly operated in the rebels' Region II, covering Viqueque, Lautem and Manatuto.

His group is believed responsible for the recent wave of attacks on military and civilian targets in central East Timor.

"We did everything possible to save his life," Syahrir said, adding that none of Alex's five men was wounded in the encounter.

One of the five captured rebels was identified as the man who recently shot the Baucau military chief, Sergeant Major Juliong. Another was identified as an East Timor University student who had joined the rebels in the jungle last year.

Syahrir said the troop led by Capt. David Hasibuan moved in after locals reported the presence of unidentified people.

He said the soldiers opened fire after Alex resisted arrest and tried to escape.

East Timor Wira Dharma military commander Col. Slamat Sidabutar said he hoped Alex's death would help restore peace and order in the youngest province.

He said that separatist rebels struggled to survive because they were not supported by common people.

"They (rebels) survive by looting. Because they don't have popular support, they keep moving," he said.

He called on the rebels to surrender voluntarily so they would be treated decently.

Reuters reported from Sydney yesterday that Australian supporters of the East Timorese resistance movement had urged Australia's envoy to Jakarta to mount an immediate investigation into Alex's death.

Ambassador John McCarthy has been on a fact-finding mission in the former Portuguese colony this week and was due to arrive yesterday in Kupang in neighboring West Timor, according to the report.

"We're asking the ambassador to go back and investigate what happened. He could hop on a plane and be back there in an hour," Rob Wesley-Smith, spokesman for Australians for a Free East Timor, told Reuters.

"How can the number-two man in the East Timor resistance be shot in the legs and yet die in the tender arms of the Indonesian military?... People who get leg wounds don't usually die. It needs to be investigated." (pan)