East Timor's Ramos-Horta wounded

Feb 10, CNN

East Timor President and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was shot twice, while Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped unhurt Monday in coordinated attacks blamed on rebel troops, officials said.
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Ramos-Horta was shot twice in the back, and one of the bullets tore through his abdomen, Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa said. But the wounds were not life-threatening, he added.

"The doctors are trying to locate where the bullet is," da Costa said.

Gusmao was convening an emergency meeting of the island's government in Dili, Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Gutteres told CNN.

"The prime minister is in control of the situation," da Costa said, adding that the overall situation in the country was "stable" and calm.

"We already are used to this idea of having some renegades outside," he said. "But I think the country is safe. We have the support of the Australian and New Zealand military here ... and I believe our own defenses are capable of handling those problems."

Ramos-Horta was in surgery at an Australian military hospital in Dili and was to be flown to a military hospital in Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.

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photo: East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta was on an official visit to Brazil last month (AP/Getty Images)