Friday, January 19, 2007
Comments from anonymous...
     and who can forget the political priests?  The political priests: Pe. Apolinário Guterres, Bishop Ricardo da Silva, Pe. Domingos Soares "Maubere" and Pe. Zeca. | First Alfredo has a past connected to Indonesia. He has strong present connections to former integrationists/ autonomists. Just question where he was staying in Suai. Alfredo is a hero to those who will do anything to get rid of FRETILIN. Even if it means supporting a criminal for candidacy they will do it. These are former militias, pro-autonomist, people who have a historical dislike of FRETILIN just look at some priests they even support someone that is a criminal and belongs to jail. Timor is on the margins of ridicule because of people who have their own agendas instead of adhering to the interest of Timor Leste. These are the only ones, who will vote for Alfredo the clown, and lucky for Timor Leste they are a minority (a boisterous minority who think they have the people on their side even if the people have never voted for them) Second he is wanted for murder. There is enough evidence to suggest this. His presence at Fatu Ahi was a provocation, he was there only for one thing and that is to start trouble in Timor Leste and try to get rid of all symbols of sovereignty, our legitimate government and the Parliament with a mandate form the people. This is a serious crime which in many other countries involves the death penalty. Any lawyer would love the Dateline footage that clearly shows Alfredo shooting at FDTL soldiers without even being fired upon, how a person can defend himself if there was no act of aggression towards him. I did not see the FDTL counting to ten then shooting, I did not see the FFDTL boasting that a soldier was shot dead, good to see you smile at the camera. People want justice but not the type of justice that is wielded with a gun. Alfredo is a thug with no history of even helping the Timorese resistance. He was lucky the Australian Army was in Timor if they were not there to provide him security well you could only guess what the people and FFDTL would have done to him. Anyway because of the sake of Democracy I invite Alfredo to run for Presidency, I also invite the current President to run for Parliament and become the next Prime Minister, or Fernando Lasama, or Mario Carascalao, or any highly political priest in Timor. Try your luck!!! |
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta does not want to shake hands with criminals
I don't shake hands with criminalsYes. You heard it. The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste does not want to shake hands with Alfredo Reinado because he doesn't want to be seen as protecting a criminal. In his own words as quoted in Adnkronos International Prime Minister Ramos-Horta said "I do not want my people to offend me and tell me that I am protecting a criminal."
Alfredo Reinado, a criminalThis is an extraordinary admission from Prime Minister Ramos-Horta that Alfredo Reinado is actually a criminal. I wonder when did this backflip take place? I personally think that Alfredo Reinado is a criminal but that is just me, an ordinary man without a name or a face. But the Prime Minister? Holder of a sovereign institution? Doesn't anyone deserve a fair trial anymore to decide whether he or she is innocent or guilty? I thought everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Instead the Prime Minister had just made the decision without due trial and Alfredo Reinado is in fact guilty and therefore a criminal. Poor Timor!
Prime Minister Ramos-Horta, do you have any advice for this guy?
Monday, January 15, 2007
Alfredo Reinado, Rui Lopes, M72 rocket launcher and media coverage
Report on East Timor War Lords
Recently I published on this BLOG a number of sensational revelations. These revelations were picked by the media, but they provided no confirmation nor denial to some of these allegations. No one bothered to check with Alfredo Reinado and the rocket in his possession, its serial number, its origin, etc. Shame. In the end it is the East Timorese who will continue to live with uncertainty and among small armed gangs holding them at ransom. Shame!
One of the media reports also confirmed that one of the Lopes' brothers' is on bail for criminal activities which involves illegal drug manufacturing (similar to the ones rumoured to be present and in use in Dili, specially during the anti-government rallies last year) and illegal arms possession.
President Xanana Gusmao,
East Timor's Nelson Mandela
or Charles Taylor?
I am glad that this BLOG helped to alert the media to look into this white elephant in the room which everyone is trying their hardest to ignore. How can you look away when a deserter with the potential to plunge the country into abyssmal failure is pictured with a rocket launcher? I don't understand why has the authorities in East Timor, specially the UN and the ADF, are not taking the slightest of interest to uncover where and how Alfredo Reinado got the rocket launcher? And what about President Xanana? Shouldn't he be worried that his protége obtained such weapon? Or does he believe that the rocket launcher in Alfredo Reinado's hands is for defending the East Timorese'? From whom I wonder. East Timorese deserve better!!
Here are some of the articles:
The Age
Snapped one fugitive, one rocket launcher
Tom Hyland
January 14, 2007
EAST TIMOR'S fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, wanted for attempted murder and armed rebellion, has been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The picture was taken late last year, about the time Reinado attended a seminar in the presence of Australian troops, who have close and cordial relations with him despite his fugitive status.
The launcher on Reinado's shoulder is a light anti-armour weapon (LAW), of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The weapons have been at the centre of a security scare in Australia, where stolen rockets allegedly fell into the hands of terrorists. NSW police are still trying to find six of the missing launchers.
News that Reinado, who escaped from a Dili jail last August, has his hands on a missile capable to disabling a tank or bringing down a helicopter has raised intriguing and alarming speculation in Timorese and security circles.
A security expert said it was possible the missile came from criminal sources in Australia.
And if Reinado had more than one of the rockets, it raised serious problems for Australian forces if they tried to move against him, the expert said.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson denied Australian troops had allowed Reinado to pose with an Australian LAW.
Nor, he said, had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force, from which Reinado deserted last May as East Timor's security forces disintegrated and the country descended into political chaos. He said all the LAWs issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
Last month, the Government announced an audit of stocks of the LAW, which fires a 66mm missile, following thefts from Australian armouries.
This month, a Sydney man was charged with possessing stolen rockets. Police alleged the weapons were in the hands of a terrorist group that planned to use them to attack targets in Sydney, including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
The Reinado photograph was taken in late November, when the rebel leader spoke in the town of Suai at a seminar to promote reconciliation attended by government and church leaders. In interviews at the time, Reinado boasted he had no intention of surrendering or handing over his weapons.
Australian officers also defended their decision not to arrest him, saying they were acting on the advice of the Dili Government, which hopes to entice the former major to surrender and avoid more bloodshed in the traumatised nation.
Theories abound as to where Reinado obtained the weapon.
An East Timorese blogger has speculated it may have come from Indonesian sources or even from criminal connections in Australia. An international security expert said neither East Timor's police nor army officially possessed LAWs, but it was possible such rockets had been obtained and never entered in official inventories.
It was also possible the launcher came from "across the border" in Indonesia or from Australian criminals.
It was unclear from the Reinado photo whether the launcher was armed. The LAW is a one-shot weapon, and the one in Reinado's hands could already have been fired or was a safe training model.
But if it was an armed weapon, and Reinado had more of them, "it's pretty serious", the expert said. "An LAW could shoot down a Black Hawk helicopter, no problem," he said.
LIFE AND TIMES OF ALFREDO REINADO
Former head of East Timor's military police
Deserted with 20 soldiers in May last year.
Abducted by Indonesian troops as a boy during occupation of East Timor and forced to work as an army porter.
Escaped to Australia by boat in 1995.
Returned to East Timor after its independence and in 2002 joined his country's new armed forces.
Arrested by Australian troops on firearms charges last year.
Led a mass escape from jail in August.
PS: Alfredo's wife and children was evacuated to Australia and has been living in Perth under strict security watch!!!
The Sydney Morning Herald
East Timor rebels obtain rocket launcher
Tom Hyland
January 14, 2007
EAST Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, wanted for attempted murder and armed rebellion, has been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The picture was taken late last year, about the time Reinado attended a seminar in the presence of Australian troops, who have close and cordial relations with him, despite his fugitive status.
The launcher on Reinado's shoulder is a light anti-armour weapon (LAW), of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The weapons have been at the centre of a security scare in Australia, where stolen rockets are alleged to have fallen into the hands of terrorists.
The news that Reinado, who escaped from a Dili jail in August, has a missile capable of disabling a tank or bringing down a helicopter has raised alarm.
A security expert said it was possible the missile had been obtained from criminal sources in Australia.
If Reinado had more than one of the rockets, there would be serious issues for Australian forces if they tried to move against him, the expert said.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson denied Australian troops in contact with Reinado had let him pose with an Australian LAW.
Nor had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force, from which Reinado deserted in May as East Timor's security forces disintegrated and the country descended into political chaos.
The spokesman said all LAWs issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
This month a Sydney man was charged with possessing stolen rockets. Police said the weapons were in the hands of a terrorist group that planned to use them to attack targets in Sydney, including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
The Reinado photo was taken in late November, when the rebel leader spoke at a seminar in the town of Suai, also attended by government and church leaders and aimed at promoting reconciliation.
In interviews at the time, Reinado boasted he had no intention of surrendering himself or his weapons.
Australian officers also defended their decision not to arrest him, saying they were acting on the advice of the Dili Government, which hopes to entice the former major to surrender and avoid more bloodshed.
Speculation abounds as to where Reinado obtained the weapon.
It was unclear from the photo whether the launcher was armed. LAWs are a one-shot weapon, and the one in Reinado's hands could have been fired and now useless.
But if the weapon was armed, "it's pretty serious", the expert said.
AAP
The South East Asian Times
Police discount rockets as supplied from Australia
Darwin, January 15: The Australian Federal Police do not believe anti-tank rockets in the possession of East Timor fugitive Alfredo Reinado were among those stolen from the Australian army.
An AFP spokesperson delivered the Australian national police force’s verdict when The Southeast Asian Times asked if a rocket launcher displayed in a photograph of the major could be one of the stolen weapons early last week.
The spokesman did not say how the AFP had reached its decision; nor did he say if Reinado’s possessing of the weapons had been investigated.
The possibility of the weapons having been stolen from Australia was raised in the weekend edition of the mass-circulation Sydney-based newspaper, The Sun Herald.
Major Alfredo Reinado was a key player in the violence that helped destabilise the East Timor government in May-June when the Australian-trained soldier led deserting troops and was accused of sparking the civil unrest that killed 21 people. Reinado’s shipping of arms into the mountains beyond Dili was known in Australia the evening it happened.
The story by an Australian Associated Press correspondent says Reinado had been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The photograph — published in previous editions of The Southeast Asian Times — was taken about the time Reinado- who escaped from a Dili jail in August - attended a Roman Catholic-Church-sponsored seminar in Suai, about 138 kilometres southwest of Dili in November.
Australian soldiers at the seminar made no effort to arrest him although he is wanted for murder and rebellion.
The Australians said the decision not to arrest the major followed advice from the East Timor government who wanted the fugitive to surrender without bloodshed.
The light anti-armour weapon is of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The AAP correspondent quoted a spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson as having denied Australian troops in contact with Reinado had let him pose with an Australian anti-tank rocket.
Nor had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force and all such weapons issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
Police have charged Taha Abdul Rahman, 28, of south western Sydney with having supplied five of the Light Anti-Armour Weapons to one of the men arrested in anti-terrorism raids in Sydney last November.
Earlier, an AFP spokesman told Fairfax newspapers it was “common sense” to assume agents were searching for the rocket launchers in Victoria because known Islamist terrorist g cells were in Melbourne and Sydney’s southwest.
The AFP spokesman also discounted the likelihood that designer drugs made in Darwin had been distributed to youths promoting violence in East Timor, especially the capital Dili.
The AFP was asked about the possibility after a raid on an East Timorese-owned enterprise in the industrial suburb of Winnellie on June 30 last year.
The raid had been organised by the Northern Territory police, he said.
Forty two members of the Northern Territory Police, the AFP and Australian Customs arrested Ruy Miguel Lopes, 37, who was charged with possessing methyl amphetamine powder; liquid amphetamines and 5.8 litres of the date rape drug GHB.
Police reports say various types of unsecured firearm ammunition and about $30 000 in cash — believed to be tainted property - was also found and seized.
Lopes is now free on $A2000 bail but his lawyer, former Country Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly, Peter Maley, has twice told magistrates that his client will plead guilty at a formal lower court hearing in March.
The Lopes family is reported to have extensive investment in Suai.
Northern Territory police superintendent Peter Gordon said the Winnellie premises was used as the distribution hub for the drugs that were likely to be destined for the domestic market.
A member of the Lopes family - Rui Lopes — was prominent in the demonstrations against former prime minister Mari Alkatiri.
In August, he told a reporter from the SBS Dateline programme “We are ready to die, we’re ready to defend, and ready to kill.”
Rui Lopes, former pro-Indonesia
militia thug and "ready to kill."
Various Australian newspapers, including The Australian, have reported suspicions that members of the Dili gangs were given designer drugs and money to fuel their activities.
The source of one front-page story in the national newspaper, The Australian, was from within prime minister Jose Ramos Horta’s office.
The Southeast Asian Times
Recently I published on this BLOG a number of sensational revelations. These revelations were picked by the media, but they provided no confirmation nor denial to some of these allegations. No one bothered to check with Alfredo Reinado and the rocket in his possession, its serial number, its origin, etc. Shame. In the end it is the East Timorese who will continue to live with uncertainty and among small armed gangs holding them at ransom. Shame!One of the media reports also confirmed that one of the Lopes' brothers' is on bail for criminal activities which involves illegal drug manufacturing (similar to the ones rumoured to be present and in use in Dili, specially during the anti-government rallies last year) and illegal arms possession.
President Xanana Gusmao,
East Timor's Nelson Mandela
or Charles Taylor?
I am glad that this BLOG helped to alert the media to look into this white elephant in the room which everyone is trying their hardest to ignore. How can you look away when a deserter with the potential to plunge the country into abyssmal failure is pictured with a rocket launcher? I don't understand why has the authorities in East Timor, specially the UN and the ADF, are not taking the slightest of interest to uncover where and how Alfredo Reinado got the rocket launcher? And what about President Xanana? Shouldn't he be worried that his protége obtained such weapon? Or does he believe that the rocket launcher in Alfredo Reinado's hands is for defending the East Timorese'? From whom I wonder. East Timorese deserve better!!
Here are some of the articles:
The Age
Snapped one fugitive, one rocket launcher
Tom Hyland
January 14, 2007
EAST TIMOR'S fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, wanted for attempted murder and armed rebellion, has been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The picture was taken late last year, about the time Reinado attended a seminar in the presence of Australian troops, who have close and cordial relations with him despite his fugitive status.
The launcher on Reinado's shoulder is a light anti-armour weapon (LAW), of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The weapons have been at the centre of a security scare in Australia, where stolen rockets allegedly fell into the hands of terrorists. NSW police are still trying to find six of the missing launchers.
News that Reinado, who escaped from a Dili jail last August, has his hands on a missile capable to disabling a tank or bringing down a helicopter has raised intriguing and alarming speculation in Timorese and security circles.
A security expert said it was possible the missile came from criminal sources in Australia.
And if Reinado had more than one of the rockets, it raised serious problems for Australian forces if they tried to move against him, the expert said.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson denied Australian troops had allowed Reinado to pose with an Australian LAW.
Nor, he said, had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force, from which Reinado deserted last May as East Timor's security forces disintegrated and the country descended into political chaos. He said all the LAWs issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
Last month, the Government announced an audit of stocks of the LAW, which fires a 66mm missile, following thefts from Australian armouries.
This month, a Sydney man was charged with possessing stolen rockets. Police alleged the weapons were in the hands of a terrorist group that planned to use them to attack targets in Sydney, including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
The Reinado photograph was taken in late November, when the rebel leader spoke in the town of Suai at a seminar to promote reconciliation attended by government and church leaders. In interviews at the time, Reinado boasted he had no intention of surrendering or handing over his weapons.
Australian officers also defended their decision not to arrest him, saying they were acting on the advice of the Dili Government, which hopes to entice the former major to surrender and avoid more bloodshed in the traumatised nation.
Theories abound as to where Reinado obtained the weapon.
An East Timorese blogger has speculated it may have come from Indonesian sources or even from criminal connections in Australia. An international security expert said neither East Timor's police nor army officially possessed LAWs, but it was possible such rockets had been obtained and never entered in official inventories.
It was also possible the launcher came from "across the border" in Indonesia or from Australian criminals.
It was unclear from the Reinado photo whether the launcher was armed. The LAW is a one-shot weapon, and the one in Reinado's hands could already have been fired or was a safe training model.
But if it was an armed weapon, and Reinado had more of them, "it's pretty serious", the expert said. "An LAW could shoot down a Black Hawk helicopter, no problem," he said.
LIFE AND TIMES OF ALFREDO REINADO
Former head of East Timor's military police
Deserted with 20 soldiers in May last year.
Abducted by Indonesian troops as a boy during occupation of East Timor and forced to work as an army porter.
Escaped to Australia by boat in 1995.
Returned to East Timor after its independence and in 2002 joined his country's new armed forces.
Arrested by Australian troops on firearms charges last year.
Led a mass escape from jail in August.
PS: Alfredo's wife and children was evacuated to Australia and has been living in Perth under strict security watch!!!
The Sydney Morning Herald
East Timor rebels obtain rocket launcher
Tom Hyland
January 14, 2007
EAST Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, wanted for attempted murder and armed rebellion, has been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The picture was taken late last year, about the time Reinado attended a seminar in the presence of Australian troops, who have close and cordial relations with him, despite his fugitive status.
The launcher on Reinado's shoulder is a light anti-armour weapon (LAW), of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The weapons have been at the centre of a security scare in Australia, where stolen rockets are alleged to have fallen into the hands of terrorists.
The news that Reinado, who escaped from a Dili jail in August, has a missile capable of disabling a tank or bringing down a helicopter has raised alarm.
A security expert said it was possible the missile had been obtained from criminal sources in Australia.
If Reinado had more than one of the rockets, there would be serious issues for Australian forces if they tried to move against him, the expert said.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson denied Australian troops in contact with Reinado had let him pose with an Australian LAW.
Nor had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force, from which Reinado deserted in May as East Timor's security forces disintegrated and the country descended into political chaos.
The spokesman said all LAWs issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
This month a Sydney man was charged with possessing stolen rockets. Police said the weapons were in the hands of a terrorist group that planned to use them to attack targets in Sydney, including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
The Reinado photo was taken in late November, when the rebel leader spoke at a seminar in the town of Suai, also attended by government and church leaders and aimed at promoting reconciliation.
In interviews at the time, Reinado boasted he had no intention of surrendering himself or his weapons.
Australian officers also defended their decision not to arrest him, saying they were acting on the advice of the Dili Government, which hopes to entice the former major to surrender and avoid more bloodshed.
Speculation abounds as to where Reinado obtained the weapon.
It was unclear from the photo whether the launcher was armed. LAWs are a one-shot weapon, and the one in Reinado's hands could have been fired and now useless.
But if the weapon was armed, "it's pretty serious", the expert said.
AAP
The South East Asian Times
Police discount rockets as supplied from Australia
Darwin, January 15: The Australian Federal Police do not believe anti-tank rockets in the possession of East Timor fugitive Alfredo Reinado were among those stolen from the Australian army.
An AFP spokesperson delivered the Australian national police force’s verdict when The Southeast Asian Times asked if a rocket launcher displayed in a photograph of the major could be one of the stolen weapons early last week.
The spokesman did not say how the AFP had reached its decision; nor did he say if Reinado’s possessing of the weapons had been investigated.
The possibility of the weapons having been stolen from Australia was raised in the weekend edition of the mass-circulation Sydney-based newspaper, The Sun Herald.
Major Alfredo Reinado was a key player in the violence that helped destabilise the East Timor government in May-June when the Australian-trained soldier led deserting troops and was accused of sparking the civil unrest that killed 21 people. Reinado’s shipping of arms into the mountains beyond Dili was known in Australia the evening it happened.
The story by an Australian Associated Press correspondent says Reinado had been photographed with a rocket launcher of the same type as those stolen from the Australian Army.
The photograph — published in previous editions of The Southeast Asian Times — was taken about the time Reinado- who escaped from a Dili jail in August - attended a Roman Catholic-Church-sponsored seminar in Suai, about 138 kilometres southwest of Dili in November.
Australian soldiers at the seminar made no effort to arrest him although he is wanted for murder and rebellion.
The Australians said the decision not to arrest the major followed advice from the East Timor government who wanted the fugitive to surrender without bloodshed.
The light anti-armour weapon is of the same type issued to Australian troops in East Timor.
The AAP correspondent quoted a spokesman for Defence Minister Brendan Nelson as having denied Australian troops in contact with Reinado had let him pose with an Australian anti-tank rocket.
Nor had the Australian Defence Force supplied such weapons to the East Timorese Defence Force and all such weapons issued to Australian troops in Timor were accounted for.
Police have charged Taha Abdul Rahman, 28, of south western Sydney with having supplied five of the Light Anti-Armour Weapons to one of the men arrested in anti-terrorism raids in Sydney last November.
Earlier, an AFP spokesman told Fairfax newspapers it was “common sense” to assume agents were searching for the rocket launchers in Victoria because known Islamist terrorist g cells were in Melbourne and Sydney’s southwest.
The AFP spokesman also discounted the likelihood that designer drugs made in Darwin had been distributed to youths promoting violence in East Timor, especially the capital Dili.
The AFP was asked about the possibility after a raid on an East Timorese-owned enterprise in the industrial suburb of Winnellie on June 30 last year.
The raid had been organised by the Northern Territory police, he said.
Forty two members of the Northern Territory Police, the AFP and Australian Customs arrested Ruy Miguel Lopes, 37, who was charged with possessing methyl amphetamine powder; liquid amphetamines and 5.8 litres of the date rape drug GHB.
Police reports say various types of unsecured firearm ammunition and about $30 000 in cash — believed to be tainted property - was also found and seized.
Lopes is now free on $A2000 bail but his lawyer, former Country Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly, Peter Maley, has twice told magistrates that his client will plead guilty at a formal lower court hearing in March.
The Lopes family is reported to have extensive investment in Suai.
Northern Territory police superintendent Peter Gordon said the Winnellie premises was used as the distribution hub for the drugs that were likely to be destined for the domestic market.
A member of the Lopes family - Rui Lopes — was prominent in the demonstrations against former prime minister Mari Alkatiri.
In August, he told a reporter from the SBS Dateline programme “We are ready to die, we’re ready to defend, and ready to kill.”
Rui Lopes, former pro-Indonesiamilitia thug and "ready to kill."
Various Australian newspapers, including The Australian, have reported suspicions that members of the Dili gangs were given designer drugs and money to fuel their activities.
The source of one front-page story in the national newspaper, The Australian, was from within prime minister Jose Ramos Horta’s office.
The Southeast Asian Times
Thursday, January 11, 2007
For Timor-Deste...
Este comentário era para (o blog do) Timor-Deste respondendo ao post entitulado "ALKATIRI NOVAMENTE INCRIMINADO". Mas como já sabemos que não iria ser publicado, decidí pó-lo aqui. Espero que o bom moderadór o publique.
começa:
Voces falam como o Alkatiri fosse o homem todo poderoso em Timor, e que até tem mais poder do que o proprio Xanana, e os bispos, e que todo o que o Alkatiri comanda é feito. Afinal quem é o Alkatiri? Um muçulmano no seio de uma população de maioria esmagadora cristã, um árabe que nem tem nenhum raíz timorense, um homem que passou mais anos a viver fora do que dentro de Timor, um homem que tem mais inimigos do que amigos, um home que faz inimigos tão facilmente, ... e este é o homem que nas vossas imaginações tem poderes tão incríveis como o Suharto? A não ser que o Alkatiri fosse um milionário e que anda a pagar pessoas para fazer os trabalhos sujos dele. Mas um milhão tenho a certeza que ele não tem. E se ele já tivesse pago muita gente para fazer estes tipos de trabalho, tenho a certeza que já deviamos ter ouvido algo de muitas pessoas a acusá-lo de ter feito isto. Agora nem a acusação de ele ter dado a ordem para a distribuição de arma pega nele. Nenhuma pessoa se apresentou a acusando o de ter distribuido dinheiro às pessoas para criar confuzões ou de ameaçar outras pessoas para se calarem. Até de ele ter ameaçado o Railo a dizer o contrário. Estas acusaões absurdas e meia imaginativa só se podem ter vindo de pessoas que não batem bem na cabeça ou pessoas fingidas a quem só tem como interesse a defeza dos seus ideais preconceituosas e nada a ver com os interesses do povo timorense. Quando a verdade sai finalmente, vamos ver mais outra vez pessoas como vocês a fingir e a virar tudo ao contrario porque nunca mais vocês vão aceitar que tudo que vocês têm imaginado são falsas e não tem nenhum base.
Vocês são tão mentirosos como o Railos que agora tem que virar a palavra tudo ao contrário. Dantes jurava que tinha ouvido as palavras directamente da boca do Alkatiri. Agora até admite que nem o Rogerio Lobato lhe deu estas ordens, que foi o seu chefe do gabinete. Granda merda.
E este Alfredo? Afinal ele não é assim tão aceitado como vocês andam a falar por ai. Afinal algumas pessoas de Ermera nem o querem lá e manifestaram contra a presença dele alí. E oque o Alfredo fez? Raptou um chefe de aldeia para perguntar porquê é que fizeram uma manifestação contra ele. E este Alfredo diz que está a defender a democracia e a justiça. Que vergonha. Estou a ver, depois de ter passado muitos anos na Indonésia, Alfredo dever ter aprendido com o Suharto de como lançar um golpe de estado e ser um ditador. Que grande porra.
Yes. Timor-Deste is one of those BLOGs that only admit favourable comments to their position or any comments that are aimed at damaging Fretilin. This BLOG only publishes rubbis and I suspect it's being maintained in Portugal by people connected to PD. The last BLOG posted is obviously deceiving because the report presents something quite to the contrary of what actually took place. These people are trying to deceive themselvs by telling themselves lies that even they don't believe it themselvs. It a twisted little world that they live in. I hope they stay there.
começa:
Voces falam como o Alkatiri fosse o homem todo poderoso em Timor, e que até tem mais poder do que o proprio Xanana, e os bispos, e que todo o que o Alkatiri comanda é feito. Afinal quem é o Alkatiri? Um muçulmano no seio de uma população de maioria esmagadora cristã, um árabe que nem tem nenhum raíz timorense, um homem que passou mais anos a viver fora do que dentro de Timor, um homem que tem mais inimigos do que amigos, um home que faz inimigos tão facilmente, ... e este é o homem que nas vossas imaginações tem poderes tão incríveis como o Suharto? A não ser que o Alkatiri fosse um milionário e que anda a pagar pessoas para fazer os trabalhos sujos dele. Mas um milhão tenho a certeza que ele não tem. E se ele já tivesse pago muita gente para fazer estes tipos de trabalho, tenho a certeza que já deviamos ter ouvido algo de muitas pessoas a acusá-lo de ter feito isto. Agora nem a acusação de ele ter dado a ordem para a distribuição de arma pega nele. Nenhuma pessoa se apresentou a acusando o de ter distribuido dinheiro às pessoas para criar confuzões ou de ameaçar outras pessoas para se calarem. Até de ele ter ameaçado o Railo a dizer o contrário. Estas acusaões absurdas e meia imaginativa só se podem ter vindo de pessoas que não batem bem na cabeça ou pessoas fingidas a quem só tem como interesse a defeza dos seus ideais preconceituosas e nada a ver com os interesses do povo timorense. Quando a verdade sai finalmente, vamos ver mais outra vez pessoas como vocês a fingir e a virar tudo ao contrario porque nunca mais vocês vão aceitar que tudo que vocês têm imaginado são falsas e não tem nenhum base.
Vocês são tão mentirosos como o Railos que agora tem que virar a palavra tudo ao contrário. Dantes jurava que tinha ouvido as palavras directamente da boca do Alkatiri. Agora até admite que nem o Rogerio Lobato lhe deu estas ordens, que foi o seu chefe do gabinete. Granda merda.
E este Alfredo? Afinal ele não é assim tão aceitado como vocês andam a falar por ai. Afinal algumas pessoas de Ermera nem o querem lá e manifestaram contra a presença dele alí. E oque o Alfredo fez? Raptou um chefe de aldeia para perguntar porquê é que fizeram uma manifestação contra ele. E este Alfredo diz que está a defender a democracia e a justiça. Que vergonha. Estou a ver, depois de ter passado muitos anos na Indonésia, Alfredo dever ter aprendido com o Suharto de como lançar um golpe de estado e ser um ditador. Que grande porra.
Yes. Timor-Deste is one of those BLOGs that only admit favourable comments to their position or any comments that are aimed at damaging Fretilin. This BLOG only publishes rubbis and I suspect it's being maintained in Portugal by people connected to PD. The last BLOG posted is obviously deceiving because the report presents something quite to the contrary of what actually took place. These people are trying to deceive themselvs by telling themselves lies that even they don't believe it themselvs. It a twisted little world that they live in. I hope they stay there.
Yet another response for Fitun Lotuk Lemorai
The comment above (by Fitun Mutin Lemorai) is just a lot of bull shit.
The international independent investigators did not find eny evidence of Mari Alkatiri giving orders to distribute the weapons and even less to kill his political opponents. Only in your wildest and frustrated dreams can you come up with such allegation which have been dismissed by an international panel. Yesterday even Railos denied that Alkatiri ever gave him such orders.
But apparently your good friend Alfredo Reinado, the self declared defender of truth and justice and defender of the peope (you would have to ask where he was hiding when Indonesia massacred East Timor for 25 years) wasn't very happy when he visited Ermera on Monday. Some people there (ten or less, drunk or sober, but unhappy citizens nevertheless voicing their discontent) rallied against his presence. And what did Alfredo do? He arrested a village chief and a number of other people from Aiphu and questioned them why they protested against him. This he did while a rebel soldier fighting against a supposedly dictatorial and oppressive government. Can you immagine if Alfredo had been the head or the army or even worse the head of the government? And where did Alfredo learn all this? Indonesia and then Australia. So typical.
And for people like you, the neo-colonial minded anglophiliacs, only in your twisted little mind can you even suggest that Timor would be better become a protectorate of the US and Australia. Look at what the US did in the Philippines? A toxic waste dumpsite and then a country marred with decades of dictatorship. The Philippinos finally liberated themselves from the dictatorship and also the US bases there. Good on them.
Protectorate of Australia? Like the PNGs? Like the Aborigines?
Look at all the former Anglo-Australian colonies in the South Pacific. What became of them? Is this what you want East Timor to be?
Ofcourse you do because you are like one of those people who stand to gain the most if East Timor became a protectorate of Australia or the US. Here in Australia I see many wealthy and successful Aborigines. But these people are in the small minority and claim to represent the Aborigines. In fact the vast majority of the Aboriginal communities here in Australia live in states worse than many third world countries. Yes. It would be good if Timor became a protectorate of Australia, but only good for you and not the East Timorese.
I know people like you who have a lot of miconception and preconceptions but always refuse to have some self reflection and self correction. You are probably educated in the English speaking culture and you think you are the best in the world. Look around you. All of the countries that speak English are miserable debt ridden third world countries which are continually exploited by their English speaking mentor countries like UK, USA and Australia.
Yes these people like Alkatiri and others have been living in Africa for a long time. But you also forgot that your good friend Ramos-Horta and Jose Luis Guterres have also once been Africans. Your friend Ramo-Horta actually belted a child near his Areia Branca mantion just a few days ago. So much for a Noble laureate.
You say Alkatiri and the rest brought in the worst from Africa. I say that thanks to their experience in Africa, they brought East Timor towards more independence than ever. I am proud for the fact that East Timor is among the few countries, though poor, has no debt. If these people had been corrupts and copied their friends in Africa, the first thing they would do would be to get loans from all over the place to embezzle the money. I have no doubt that Alfredo, the Australian trained soldier, or people like you, would do things like these much like your friends in the English speaking Africa and South Pacific. I am also proud of the fact that Alkatiri because of his vision negotiated successfully for East Timor's rights to the Timor Sea resources under the circumstances. And where did he learn all this? Africa? Who cares?
So the trial or Rogerio Lobato is going on and slowly truth is beginning to emmerge. In the past Railos had been interviewed by sympathetic journalists who only asked questions for their own conviniences. Now people like Railos are being grilled in a court of law and are exposing themselves of how deceitful they have been. Railos has denied that he received the order to distribute weapons directly from Alkatiri, something which he has always maintained and used in the ABC 4 Corners program to deepen the crisis in East Timor. Soon Alfredo will also have to appear in court. This proves that Railo is a layer if not working under someone's order. But I don't think he will because he is a coward, just like the way he made the surprise attack against the F-FDTL soldiers in Fatu Ahi.
The independent investigation has dismissed the allegations that the weapons distribution was for the purpose of eliminating political opponents. But the investigators also found that weeks before the crises, police weapons have been transferred to three key locations, in Ermera, Aileu and Liquisa.
What does this prove if not a planned attack to force the government out? That sections of the police force is in cahoots to stage a coup? If I was Rogerio Lobato who lost the confidence in the police force and in Paulo Martins and I discovered that the police was moving guns around, what would I do? I would exactly that. I would arm a militia to protect the government. And this is Rogerio Lobato's defense today and it is legal under East Timor's law. Unfortunately for Rogerio Lobato, he trusted a crook like Railos.
As for Taur Matan Ruak. I have nothing else to say except that this man is a living hero. For a man who spent most of his adulthood fighting an army in the bush deserves nothing but my utmost admiration. For a man his size, he stands taller than Xanana and Horta put together. This man truly has charisma that is why he was able to prevent the F-FDTL from reacting any further which could have caused much more bloodshed. Taur Matan Ruak for president and you will see East Timor finally head towards some good sense and finally independence. Under Xanana Republic, East Timor has become the example of a Banana Republic. Taur Matan Ruak for President.
Fitun Mutin
Another response to Fitun Lotuk Lemorai
To Fitun Lotuk Lemorai (1:26 AM)
You are a real fool- some of the things you say are so ignorant and uneducated you have to wonder where you received your education.
Timor Leste become a protectorate of Australia- absolutely no way! Long live the independence of Timor Leste- there is no way any nationalist Timorese would ever allow Timor to be dominated by foreigners.
Lobato is in court as we speak, so we'll see how the trial goes. And by the way, Railos won't bring any evidence to implicate Alkatiri because he doesn't have any.
You must be a PD or PSD supporter... perhaps instead of insulting people you should focus on your own party and policies- but going from your comments you aren't even smart enough or educated enough to develop any policies and would be happy to sell Timor Leste to foreign powers. You are the one that has a lower IQ than a monkey- perhaps should be swinging in the trees and eating bananas....
Yes. Agreed. Long live independent Timor-Leste!!! Fitun Lotuk should just move to Australia like Alfredo Reinado's wife.
You are a real fool- some of the things you say are so ignorant and uneducated you have to wonder where you received your education.
Timor Leste become a protectorate of Australia- absolutely no way! Long live the independence of Timor Leste- there is no way any nationalist Timorese would ever allow Timor to be dominated by foreigners.
Lobato is in court as we speak, so we'll see how the trial goes. And by the way, Railos won't bring any evidence to implicate Alkatiri because he doesn't have any.
You must be a PD or PSD supporter... perhaps instead of insulting people you should focus on your own party and policies- but going from your comments you aren't even smart enough or educated enough to develop any policies and would be happy to sell Timor Leste to foreign powers. You are the one that has a lower IQ than a monkey- perhaps should be swinging in the trees and eating bananas....
Yes. Agreed. Long live independent Timor-Leste!!! Fitun Lotuk should just move to Australia like Alfredo Reinado's wife.
Comments: plain ignorance like this one from Fitun Lotuk Lemorai
There won't be any sensors in this BLOG so comment on what you like and how you want it.
But this comment belos from someone pretending to be Fitun Lotuk Lemorai, I find it absolutely laughable. The commentator is typical of those people who are frustrated because their plans are slowly unravelling.
Who is not a criminal in East Timor now?
Rui Lopes, Lino Lopes, Nemesio Carvalho and Alfredo Reinado are described by the writer as criminals, thugs, Indonesian underbows, militia leaders, and etc. etc. But by seeing the actual political situation in East Timor where the officials in the government in Power like Mari Alkatiri and Rogerio Lobato forming gangsters to kill his own brothers who choose to become opponents in a free democratic country like East Timor, aren't these people more criminal than people like Rui Lopes and Alfredo Reinado? What is wrong in Nemesio's position or Lasama's position to urge people to stage a rally or a demostration. Isn't it a legal act in democracy?
This is a load of monkey poo!!! The international independent investigation dismissed any rumours that a "hit squad" was ever formed to elliminate Fretilin or Alkatiri's political opponents. And during Railos appearance in court, when questioned he even denied ever having received any order from Alkatiri to do such a thing. Only people like who are so frustrated because it seemed that nothing you threw on Fretilin stuck to it, would be so paranoid and so irresponsible for making allegations like this one and like the one about F-FDTL committed a maasacre in Tasi Tolu.
So go play with monkeys. Alfredo Reinado is and continues to be a thug and a warlord. Rui Lopes is a thug and a criminal. The Lopes family in Australia is still a suspect in how the M72 got to Reinado's hands. Nemencio de Carvalho is still the former militia leader who coordinated some of the worst militia violence in East Timor. Lasama and his wife are responsible for spreading the rumour that F-FDTL committed a massacre in Tasi Tolu.
But this comment belos from someone pretending to be Fitun Lotuk Lemorai, I find it absolutely laughable. The commentator is typical of those people who are frustrated because their plans are slowly unravelling.
Who is not a criminal in East Timor now?
Rui Lopes, Lino Lopes, Nemesio Carvalho and Alfredo Reinado are described by the writer as criminals, thugs, Indonesian underbows, militia leaders, and etc. etc. But by seeing the actual political situation in East Timor where the officials in the government in Power like Mari Alkatiri and Rogerio Lobato forming gangsters to kill his own brothers who choose to become opponents in a free democratic country like East Timor, aren't these people more criminal than people like Rui Lopes and Alfredo Reinado? What is wrong in Nemesio's position or Lasama's position to urge people to stage a rally or a demostration. Isn't it a legal act in democracy?
This is a load of monkey poo!!! The international independent investigation dismissed any rumours that a "hit squad" was ever formed to elliminate Fretilin or Alkatiri's political opponents. And during Railos appearance in court, when questioned he even denied ever having received any order from Alkatiri to do such a thing. Only people like who are so frustrated because it seemed that nothing you threw on Fretilin stuck to it, would be so paranoid and so irresponsible for making allegations like this one and like the one about F-FDTL committed a maasacre in Tasi Tolu.
So go play with monkeys. Alfredo Reinado is and continues to be a thug and a warlord. Rui Lopes is a thug and a criminal. The Lopes family in Australia is still a suspect in how the M72 got to Reinado's hands. Nemencio de Carvalho is still the former militia leader who coordinated some of the worst militia violence in East Timor. Lasama and his wife are responsible for spreading the rumour that F-FDTL committed a massacre in Tasi Tolu.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Rebel bikie linked to rocket launcher theft
THE LINKS:
Alfredo Reinado - Rui Lopes - Lino Lopes - Rebel biker gang in Australia - Almerio Lopes' children in Sydney - weapons thieves!!!
SOMEBODY PLEASE ALERT THE AUTHORITIES!!!
Natalie O'Brien
09 January 2007
POLICE investigating an alleged terrorist plot using stolen Australian army rocket launchers hope to arrest more suspects, including a member of Australia's biggest outlaw motorcycle gang.
The Rebels bikie from Sydney's southwest is one of several people suspected of playing a part in a stolen weapons trail leading to alleged Sydney arms dealer Taha Abdulrahman and his clients - one of whom is a terror suspect.
It is believed that police are getting closer to a number of further arrests in connection with the illegal sale of the anti-tank weapons, which police allege were intended to be used to attack targets including the American Express headquarters in Sydney.
Mr Abdulrahman, 28, was arrested and charged on Friday with 17 offences, including unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon and unauthorised supply of a prohibited weapon. The charges relate to five shoulder-mounted, anti-tank rocket launchers among seven allegedly stolen from the army. Police have recovered one of the launchers after cutting a deal with Sydney underworld figure Adnan Darwiche, who is serving a double life sentence for murder.
It has been revealed that the Darwiche family, which was caught up in a string of shootings in western Sydney stemming from a feud with the rival Razzak family, had access to some of the rocket launchers.
Five of the stolen rocket launchers are believed to have been sold to a Sydney man who is now facing terrorism charges.
Community sources have told The Australian that a member of one Middle Eastern crime family has privately boasted of possession of at least one rocket launcher.
Police said last week that Mr Abdulrahman had no immediate connections to the Australian Defence Force and that no ADF members were said to be under investigation at this point. But the focus of the police investigation is now on how the weapons were moved from the army to the Rebels, Mr Abdulrahman and then into the hands of a potential terrorist cell.
The AFP yesterday declined to comment.
But NSW Police Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism Nick Kaldas said the arrest last week of Mr Abdulrahman was "one phase of the operation".
"It is by no means the end of the investigation. A number of significant lines of inquiry are being actively pursued and that effort will be sustained until the matter is resolved," Mr Kaldas said.
Mr Abdulrahman is accused of knowing several of the 23 terror suspects arrested in Sydney and Melbourne in late 2005 during the nation's biggest counter-terrorism sweep, known as Operation Pendennis.
But how he may be allegedly linked to the Rebels bikie gang is still being investigated.
In recent years there has been a rise in the number of Middle Eastern Australians joining motorcycle gangs, but experts say they have been mainly swelling the ranks of rival clubs, such as the Nomads.
Former federal agent turned academic Michael Kennedy said the links between the Rebels and the Middle Eastern community in southwest Sydney were likely to be more entrepreneurial.
Dr Kennedy said the Rebels members would know "someone" who would know someone else who could move the weapons on the black market.
Last week, police said they would allege one of the 66mm portable rocket launchers was destined to be fired at a Sydney target.
Australia's only nuclear reactor and the Australian headquarters of American Express in Sydney were touted as among the likely targets for Mr Adbulrahman's alleged terrorist clients.
The country's intelligence and spy agencies are conducting a nationwide audit of the defence forces' weapons and munitions stocks.
Alfredo Reinado - Rui Lopes - Lino Lopes - Rebel biker gang in Australia - Almerio Lopes' children in Sydney - weapons thieves!!!
SOMEBODY PLEASE ALERT THE AUTHORITIES!!!
Natalie O'Brien
09 January 2007
POLICE investigating an alleged terrorist plot using stolen Australian army rocket launchers hope to arrest more suspects, including a member of Australia's biggest outlaw motorcycle gang.
The Rebels bikie from Sydney's southwest is one of several people suspected of playing a part in a stolen weapons trail leading to alleged Sydney arms dealer Taha Abdulrahman and his clients - one of whom is a terror suspect.
It is believed that police are getting closer to a number of further arrests in connection with the illegal sale of the anti-tank weapons, which police allege were intended to be used to attack targets including the American Express headquarters in Sydney.
Mr Abdulrahman, 28, was arrested and charged on Friday with 17 offences, including unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon and unauthorised supply of a prohibited weapon. The charges relate to five shoulder-mounted, anti-tank rocket launchers among seven allegedly stolen from the army. Police have recovered one of the launchers after cutting a deal with Sydney underworld figure Adnan Darwiche, who is serving a double life sentence for murder.
It has been revealed that the Darwiche family, which was caught up in a string of shootings in western Sydney stemming from a feud with the rival Razzak family, had access to some of the rocket launchers.
Five of the stolen rocket launchers are believed to have been sold to a Sydney man who is now facing terrorism charges.
Community sources have told The Australian that a member of one Middle Eastern crime family has privately boasted of possession of at least one rocket launcher.
Police said last week that Mr Abdulrahman had no immediate connections to the Australian Defence Force and that no ADF members were said to be under investigation at this point. But the focus of the police investigation is now on how the weapons were moved from the army to the Rebels, Mr Abdulrahman and then into the hands of a potential terrorist cell.
The AFP yesterday declined to comment.
But NSW Police Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism Nick Kaldas said the arrest last week of Mr Abdulrahman was "one phase of the operation".
"It is by no means the end of the investigation. A number of significant lines of inquiry are being actively pursued and that effort will be sustained until the matter is resolved," Mr Kaldas said.
Mr Abdulrahman is accused of knowing several of the 23 terror suspects arrested in Sydney and Melbourne in late 2005 during the nation's biggest counter-terrorism sweep, known as Operation Pendennis.
But how he may be allegedly linked to the Rebels bikie gang is still being investigated.
In recent years there has been a rise in the number of Middle Eastern Australians joining motorcycle gangs, but experts say they have been mainly swelling the ranks of rival clubs, such as the Nomads.
Former federal agent turned academic Michael Kennedy said the links between the Rebels and the Middle Eastern community in southwest Sydney were likely to be more entrepreneurial.
Dr Kennedy said the Rebels members would know "someone" who would know someone else who could move the weapons on the black market.
Last week, police said they would allege one of the 66mm portable rocket launchers was destined to be fired at a Sydney target.
Australia's only nuclear reactor and the Australian headquarters of American Express in Sydney were touted as among the likely targets for Mr Adbulrahman's alleged terrorist clients.
The country's intelligence and spy agencies are conducting a nationwide audit of the defence forces' weapons and munitions stocks.
Monday, January 08, 2007
REPLY to the commensts on "How did Alfredo Reinado get his hands on the LAW M72 rocket launcher?"
Thank you to all of you who replied to this the post "How did Alfredo Reinado get his hands on the LAW M72 rocket launcher?" Here are my answers.
Alfredo Reinado. Defending whose interests?
Thank you for alerting me that the man pictured with the Styer is Leandro Isaac and not Joe Goncalves. I have always confused these two men who belong to the same PSD party, although Leandro was later expelled. Leandro Isaac is more of a talker, brutish and a thug who throughout his time working for his Indonesian bosses was wellknown for his disrespect for women while having abused many of them. He is also wellknown for his ability to study the political atmosphere which provided him with sound judgements as to when he should dissociate himself with a group and jump on to the next thus saving himself. He quickly switched side when Suharto fell from power and became a CNRT activist. I was very much surprised when I saw Leandro Isaac next to Xanana when the later returned to Dili for the first time after the referendum. He then joined PSD because he thought with the backing of Xanana and Mario Carrascalao's supposed figure would bring PSD to power. But after serving briefly with the PSD as one of its deputies, Leandro Isaac started his courtship with Fretilin, the party in power, and began to distance himself from PSD. Later on the PSD expelled him from the party. It was obvious that Leandro Isaac may have smelled an imminent victory in the conspiracy to force Fretilin from office and quickly joined the conspirators, even going as far as leading the attack against Taur Matan Ruak's reidence.
What is wrong with picture? From L-R: Taur
Matan Ruak, Xanana Gusmao and Leandro Isaac.
Joe Goncalves on the other hand lived in Melbourne before moving on to live in Cairns. He is quieter and is PSD's English speaking spokesman. Joe Goncalves is more entrepeneurial, most notably his restaurant/nightclub based in Acait. One has to ask whether his restaurant business right next door to the government offices and the parliament building conflict with his position as a member of parliament? Still, it remains a fact that Alfredo Reinado has links to Joe Goncalves through his ex-wife in Melbourne who facilitated Reinado's legal battle to stay in Australia while he was still living in Melbourne. Alfredo Reinado regularly visits Joe Goncalves' ex-wife whenever he can during his stay in Australia. Alfredo Reinado is also a regular at nightclubs set up by Joe Goncalves and his current wife, specially the one established at Acait. Alfredo is also in friendly terms with Joe Goncalves, politically or otherwise.
The Acait building next to the government palace,
behind of which Joe Goncalves and is wife runs a
restaurant and a nightclub frequented on a regular
basis by Alfredo Reinado.
Thank you also to the poster who alerted me that Rui Lopes was never a member of UDT but was an APODETI supporter. I have always thought that his family provided the UDT with a base in Suai. Be that as it may, this does not change the fact that this man was a thug and a criminal of the same category as Joao Tavares (UDT commander during the civil war in 1975) under Indonesian occupation. The difference between Rui Lopes and Joao Tavares is that while Joao Tavares remained true to his "ideals", Rui Lopes was more of an opportunist. When he and his family relized that under an independent East Timor they woul loose their power and privileges, they quickly supported the anti-independence supporters, in this case APODETI. But when the Suharto regime was on the way down in late 1990s, and that the prospect of independence was inevitable, his support shifted to the pro-independence side, an attitude prevalent with many of East Timor's current figures like the Carrascalao family, some members of the Alkatiri family, Leandro Isaac, Tomas Goncalves, Joao Mariano Saldanha, Francisco Kalbuadi, and many others. Joao Tavares on the other hand remained true to what he had always supported. To this, Tavares deserves some credit. But Rui Lopes is the epitome of the greedy, thuggish and the ruthless criminal, the classic example of an opportunist whose only interest is himself at the expense of others. In Suai he and his family can be characterized as the local war lord or the godfather, constantly bullying the Suai community much in the same way as he and his family did during the Indonesian or the Portuguese period.
Xanana and Joao Tavaras. Too close for
comfort?
General Wiranto. Wanted?
But, isn't love beautiful?
It also remains a fact that Rui Lopes amassed his wealth serving his Indonesian military bosses during Indonesian occupation, while his mestizo family received many privileges during Portuguese colonial period which provided them with wealth and a power base. Rui Lopes headed a pro autonomy militia in Suai, the feared Laksaur militia group which was involved in the massacre at a Suai church. He was the thug who worked for the Indonesian military to keep the Suai community towing the Indonesian line.
Rui Lopes still maintains his links to the remnants of the militia groups in West Timor, where he also pays regular visit. These remnants of the militia groups are armed and are protected by top figures in the Indonesian military. They have vowed to retake East Timor back to Indonesian fold, or at least the western border regions. Not that there is any idealism behind this push to bring East Timor back to Indonesia, it is purely driven by their greed to recover their privileges lost when their Indonesian masters were defeated by the East Timorese in the referendum.
This relationship which Rui Lopes maintains with his friends in the Indonesian military, whom continue to be his financial backer in their effort to destabilise independent East Timor, and his relationship with the remnant militia groups also cover illegal activities around the border area, from gun running to drug trafficking, sandalwood smuggling, prostitution and the illegal importation of taxable goods such as fuel, tobacco and other goods.
Today Suai has become a district with the highest number of prostitutes at work. While Joao Tavares has been expelled from Maliana and Tomas Goncalves is reduced to a nobody living in Dili, Rui Lopes maintained his powerbase in Suai. Rui Lopes uses his power and influence to exploit women in Suai and is profitting from the local prostitution. He is the local Pimp.
It also remains a fact that Rui Lopes' brother, Lino Lopes, who lives in Darwin is well known for his criminal activities. The Australian police has a file on him, while one of his sons regularly spends his time in jail for activities ranging from assault with lethal weapons to drug trafficking. Lino Lopes is part of a criminal network established in the Northern Territory which involves biker gangs and other feared mafia groups. It also remains a fact that one of Rui Lopes' nephews is a drug addict who grew up in the Sydney's western suburbs and has contacts with local criminal gangs. He may have become the point of contact between the weapons thieves, Lino Lopes in Darwin and Rui Lopes in East Timor ensuring the LAW M72 ending up in Alfredo Reinado's possession.
It also remains a fact that Alfredo Reinado escaped with a number of militia convicts. Just what is his relationship with these escapees is anyone's guess. But if I were fighting for truth and justice for the East Timorese, the last thing I want to do is to help, or create a condition which, these convicted ex-militias to escape. The fact that Alfredo Reinado chose Suai and Rui Lopes' farm as his hideout is chilling. Helping ex-militias to escape and then making friends with a former militia figure who maintains links with the remnants of the militia in West Timor as well as corrupt Indonesian military officials is definitely not in the interrest of truth and justice for the East Timorese. If these militia escapees have not already crossed the border to West Timor, then they are somewhere in East Timor just waiting for the perfect moment to exact their revenge and ultimately bring East Timor to God knows where. So no prize for guessing where these ex-militia escapees may be hiding. I doubt that they have gone back their villages because they know the only welcome party that will receive them is a linch mob. But hiding in the farm of a militia friendly thug and under the protection of self declared "freedom" fighter who stole state weapons and took up arms against the state but is protected by the president himself, is not a choice worth contemplating.
Alfredo Reinado meeting his "supreme
commander" in an attempt by president
Xanana to mediate between him and
the government.
It also remains a fact that a number of LAW M72 rocket launchers were stolen from Australia's defence department. Most of them are still missing. These rocket launchers disappeared just before pictures of Alfredo Reinado bearing one of them surfaced. Coincidence? Maybe. Although the links I presented here are circumstancial, it remains of paramount importance that an investigation the origins of the M72 rocket launcher in Alfredo Reinado's possession be conducted. The PNTL and the F-FDTL don't have this type of weapon in their inventory. The Australian Defence Force in active duty in East Timor doesn't have one. The Portuguese contingent doesn't have one. Yet, LAW M72, an anti-tank weapon, is a rocket launcher designed to pierce a tank's armour and destroy it as well as its occupants. Maybe it was a leftover Indonesian military inventory. But why would the Indonesian army have an anti-tank missile in East Timor where they were the only forces that owned tanks or could even man one effectively (in case the FALINTIL guerilla stole one)? What would such weapons be of use in East Timor? The only military force in East Timor with tanks are the Australian military. Was this weapon destined against Australian armoured vehicles or APCs? Did Alfredo Reinado deliberately pose with a M72 to show the Australians of what they would come up against if they decided to arrest him? But more importantly how did he get the M72? How many M72 is in his possession?
Alfredo Reinado and the M72. How did he get it? How many does
he have? Does anyone care?
Australian APCs in East Timor. Possible targets?
A commentator also alerted me that the one pictured with Alfredo Reinado is a used one, meaning, once the cap is opened and part of the rocket extended, you cannot put it back. You have to fire it. The the type pictured with Alfredo Reinado is usually used only for training purposes. That the pictured weapon is either a used launcher without a rocket or one that is just waiting to be fired. But this is largely irrelevant. The question ought to be how Alfredo Reinado came to possess such a weapon given the possibility that it may have been brought into East Timor legally has been eliminated. Or perhaps the Alkatiri government smuggled it in to elliminate Fretilin's opponents, yet the recent independent investigations dismissed rumours of illegal weapons purchase (the so called missing containers) by the Alkatiri government.
So it remains a matter of urgency that the UN, the East Timor government and the ADF verify this particular inventory in Alfredo Reinado's arsenal, how many there are, how he got them, who supplied them, etc. How he came to be in possession of the M72 will reveal a turn to the worse in efforts to make East Timor a viable and peaceful state.
The much publicized "handover" of weapons
by Alfredo Reinado and his men under
the auspices of the ADF. Weeks later
Alfredo was arrested and imprisoned
for weapons possession.
My suspicion still lies with Rui Lopes and his networks in Australia. Could it have come through him? There is after all a possible motive behind why Rui Lopes is so keen to see the back of Fretilin and aid Fretilin's political opposition. Rui Lopes wants to re-establish his power and influence in East Timor the same way he had them under Indonesian rule. Rui Lopes wants a return of his fiefdom to facilitate his criminal activities and his powerful and privileged stance in the Suai community much like what he enjoyed under Indonesian period. Furthermore, East Timor is in a strategic location for any kind of illegal trafficking between Australia, Indonesia and Asia. A weak East Timor with corrupt officials is just the perfect set up for people like Rui Lopes and his contacts in Australia and Indonesia to establish their criminal enterprises. When you have corrupt Indonesian military officials maning the border, Rui Lopes effectively running Suai (and now with the help of his mate Alfredo Reinado), his brother Lino Lopes and his criminal networks in the Northern Territory, Rui Lopes financing some figures in the East Timorese political establishment who are potential leaders of the country, and you have the perfect blend to turn a country into a failed state run by thugs, war lords and the criminal underworld. At the same time the Indonesian military figures who never wanted to see East Timor independent from Indonesia will also feel vindicated.
It should not come as a surprise that former militia figures like Rui Lopes and Nemencio de Carvalho chose to side with the anti-government protesters to bring East Timor to a stand still for they have much to gain from this. A failed East Timor will not only to vindicate their political views and those of their former Indonesian military masters, but ultimately it would also make it a perfect ground for their criminal activity. The fact remains that Rui Lopes did not only provide the logistical and financial part int the anti-government protests, he and Nemencio de Carvalho also provided their men to boost the number of protesters, causing much of the disturbance, destruction and violence which nearly brought East Timor to its knees. A failed East Timor will usher in a state where thugs like Rui Lopes, Nemencio de Carvalho and Alfredo Reinado can establish a free reign and a powerbase for their criminal activities, linking them up to their counterparts in Indonesia, Australia and the rest of the world. Forget Rogerio Lobato. He sided with the wrong people and lost out. He is history.
I don't wanto to add to the confusion that is already is the political blamegame in East Timor. What I want is for this issue to be taken seriously and investigated. We cannot have an East Timor with a group of people threathening its stability armed to the teeth. How can we all just sit by and pretend? There is an elephant in the room but no one is talking about it, everyone is looking away. Or is there a reason why everyone is looking away instead of tackling this issue?
Thank you for your attention.
PS: I don't want to sign this post for safety reasons, for myself, my family and friends. In the end, it is the message that is relevant not the messenger.
Alfredo Reinado. Defending whose interests?
Thank you for alerting me that the man pictured with the Styer is Leandro Isaac and not Joe Goncalves. I have always confused these two men who belong to the same PSD party, although Leandro was later expelled. Leandro Isaac is more of a talker, brutish and a thug who throughout his time working for his Indonesian bosses was wellknown for his disrespect for women while having abused many of them. He is also wellknown for his ability to study the political atmosphere which provided him with sound judgements as to when he should dissociate himself with a group and jump on to the next thus saving himself. He quickly switched side when Suharto fell from power and became a CNRT activist. I was very much surprised when I saw Leandro Isaac next to Xanana when the later returned to Dili for the first time after the referendum. He then joined PSD because he thought with the backing of Xanana and Mario Carrascalao's supposed figure would bring PSD to power. But after serving briefly with the PSD as one of its deputies, Leandro Isaac started his courtship with Fretilin, the party in power, and began to distance himself from PSD. Later on the PSD expelled him from the party. It was obvious that Leandro Isaac may have smelled an imminent victory in the conspiracy to force Fretilin from office and quickly joined the conspirators, even going as far as leading the attack against Taur Matan Ruak's reidence.
What is wrong with picture? From L-R: Taur
Matan Ruak, Xanana Gusmao and Leandro Isaac.
Joe Goncalves on the other hand lived in Melbourne before moving on to live in Cairns. He is quieter and is PSD's English speaking spokesman. Joe Goncalves is more entrepeneurial, most notably his restaurant/nightclub based in Acait. One has to ask whether his restaurant business right next door to the government offices and the parliament building conflict with his position as a member of parliament? Still, it remains a fact that Alfredo Reinado has links to Joe Goncalves through his ex-wife in Melbourne who facilitated Reinado's legal battle to stay in Australia while he was still living in Melbourne. Alfredo Reinado regularly visits Joe Goncalves' ex-wife whenever he can during his stay in Australia. Alfredo Reinado is also a regular at nightclubs set up by Joe Goncalves and his current wife, specially the one established at Acait. Alfredo is also in friendly terms with Joe Goncalves, politically or otherwise.
The Acait building next to the government palace,
behind of which Joe Goncalves and is wife runs a
restaurant and a nightclub frequented on a regular
basis by Alfredo Reinado.
Thank you also to the poster who alerted me that Rui Lopes was never a member of UDT but was an APODETI supporter. I have always thought that his family provided the UDT with a base in Suai. Be that as it may, this does not change the fact that this man was a thug and a criminal of the same category as Joao Tavares (UDT commander during the civil war in 1975) under Indonesian occupation. The difference between Rui Lopes and Joao Tavares is that while Joao Tavares remained true to his "ideals", Rui Lopes was more of an opportunist. When he and his family relized that under an independent East Timor they woul loose their power and privileges, they quickly supported the anti-independence supporters, in this case APODETI. But when the Suharto regime was on the way down in late 1990s, and that the prospect of independence was inevitable, his support shifted to the pro-independence side, an attitude prevalent with many of East Timor's current figures like the Carrascalao family, some members of the Alkatiri family, Leandro Isaac, Tomas Goncalves, Joao Mariano Saldanha, Francisco Kalbuadi, and many others. Joao Tavares on the other hand remained true to what he had always supported. To this, Tavares deserves some credit. But Rui Lopes is the epitome of the greedy, thuggish and the ruthless criminal, the classic example of an opportunist whose only interest is himself at the expense of others. In Suai he and his family can be characterized as the local war lord or the godfather, constantly bullying the Suai community much in the same way as he and his family did during the Indonesian or the Portuguese period.
Xanana and Joao Tavaras. Too close for
comfort?
General Wiranto. Wanted?
But, isn't love beautiful?
It also remains a fact that Rui Lopes amassed his wealth serving his Indonesian military bosses during Indonesian occupation, while his mestizo family received many privileges during Portuguese colonial period which provided them with wealth and a power base. Rui Lopes headed a pro autonomy militia in Suai, the feared Laksaur militia group which was involved in the massacre at a Suai church. He was the thug who worked for the Indonesian military to keep the Suai community towing the Indonesian line.
Rui Lopes still maintains his links to the remnants of the militia groups in West Timor, where he also pays regular visit. These remnants of the militia groups are armed and are protected by top figures in the Indonesian military. They have vowed to retake East Timor back to Indonesian fold, or at least the western border regions. Not that there is any idealism behind this push to bring East Timor back to Indonesia, it is purely driven by their greed to recover their privileges lost when their Indonesian masters were defeated by the East Timorese in the referendum.
This relationship which Rui Lopes maintains with his friends in the Indonesian military, whom continue to be his financial backer in their effort to destabilise independent East Timor, and his relationship with the remnant militia groups also cover illegal activities around the border area, from gun running to drug trafficking, sandalwood smuggling, prostitution and the illegal importation of taxable goods such as fuel, tobacco and other goods.
Today Suai has become a district with the highest number of prostitutes at work. While Joao Tavares has been expelled from Maliana and Tomas Goncalves is reduced to a nobody living in Dili, Rui Lopes maintained his powerbase in Suai. Rui Lopes uses his power and influence to exploit women in Suai and is profitting from the local prostitution. He is the local Pimp.
It also remains a fact that Rui Lopes' brother, Lino Lopes, who lives in Darwin is well known for his criminal activities. The Australian police has a file on him, while one of his sons regularly spends his time in jail for activities ranging from assault with lethal weapons to drug trafficking. Lino Lopes is part of a criminal network established in the Northern Territory which involves biker gangs and other feared mafia groups. It also remains a fact that one of Rui Lopes' nephews is a drug addict who grew up in the Sydney's western suburbs and has contacts with local criminal gangs. He may have become the point of contact between the weapons thieves, Lino Lopes in Darwin and Rui Lopes in East Timor ensuring the LAW M72 ending up in Alfredo Reinado's possession.
It also remains a fact that Alfredo Reinado escaped with a number of militia convicts. Just what is his relationship with these escapees is anyone's guess. But if I were fighting for truth and justice for the East Timorese, the last thing I want to do is to help, or create a condition which, these convicted ex-militias to escape. The fact that Alfredo Reinado chose Suai and Rui Lopes' farm as his hideout is chilling. Helping ex-militias to escape and then making friends with a former militia figure who maintains links with the remnants of the militia in West Timor as well as corrupt Indonesian military officials is definitely not in the interrest of truth and justice for the East Timorese. If these militia escapees have not already crossed the border to West Timor, then they are somewhere in East Timor just waiting for the perfect moment to exact their revenge and ultimately bring East Timor to God knows where. So no prize for guessing where these ex-militia escapees may be hiding. I doubt that they have gone back their villages because they know the only welcome party that will receive them is a linch mob. But hiding in the farm of a militia friendly thug and under the protection of self declared "freedom" fighter who stole state weapons and took up arms against the state but is protected by the president himself, is not a choice worth contemplating.
Alfredo Reinado meeting his "supreme
commander" in an attempt by president
Xanana to mediate between him and
the government.
It also remains a fact that a number of LAW M72 rocket launchers were stolen from Australia's defence department. Most of them are still missing. These rocket launchers disappeared just before pictures of Alfredo Reinado bearing one of them surfaced. Coincidence? Maybe. Although the links I presented here are circumstancial, it remains of paramount importance that an investigation the origins of the M72 rocket launcher in Alfredo Reinado's possession be conducted. The PNTL and the F-FDTL don't have this type of weapon in their inventory. The Australian Defence Force in active duty in East Timor doesn't have one. The Portuguese contingent doesn't have one. Yet, LAW M72, an anti-tank weapon, is a rocket launcher designed to pierce a tank's armour and destroy it as well as its occupants. Maybe it was a leftover Indonesian military inventory. But why would the Indonesian army have an anti-tank missile in East Timor where they were the only forces that owned tanks or could even man one effectively (in case the FALINTIL guerilla stole one)? What would such weapons be of use in East Timor? The only military force in East Timor with tanks are the Australian military. Was this weapon destined against Australian armoured vehicles or APCs? Did Alfredo Reinado deliberately pose with a M72 to show the Australians of what they would come up against if they decided to arrest him? But more importantly how did he get the M72? How many M72 is in his possession?
Alfredo Reinado and the M72. How did he get it? How many does
he have? Does anyone care?
Australian APCs in East Timor. Possible targets?
A commentator also alerted me that the one pictured with Alfredo Reinado is a used one, meaning, once the cap is opened and part of the rocket extended, you cannot put it back. You have to fire it. The the type pictured with Alfredo Reinado is usually used only for training purposes. That the pictured weapon is either a used launcher without a rocket or one that is just waiting to be fired. But this is largely irrelevant. The question ought to be how Alfredo Reinado came to possess such a weapon given the possibility that it may have been brought into East Timor legally has been eliminated. Or perhaps the Alkatiri government smuggled it in to elliminate Fretilin's opponents, yet the recent independent investigations dismissed rumours of illegal weapons purchase (the so called missing containers) by the Alkatiri government.
So it remains a matter of urgency that the UN, the East Timor government and the ADF verify this particular inventory in Alfredo Reinado's arsenal, how many there are, how he got them, who supplied them, etc. How he came to be in possession of the M72 will reveal a turn to the worse in efforts to make East Timor a viable and peaceful state.
The much publicized "handover" of weapons
by Alfredo Reinado and his men under
the auspices of the ADF. Weeks later
Alfredo was arrested and imprisoned
for weapons possession.
My suspicion still lies with Rui Lopes and his networks in Australia. Could it have come through him? There is after all a possible motive behind why Rui Lopes is so keen to see the back of Fretilin and aid Fretilin's political opposition. Rui Lopes wants to re-establish his power and influence in East Timor the same way he had them under Indonesian rule. Rui Lopes wants a return of his fiefdom to facilitate his criminal activities and his powerful and privileged stance in the Suai community much like what he enjoyed under Indonesian period. Furthermore, East Timor is in a strategic location for any kind of illegal trafficking between Australia, Indonesia and Asia. A weak East Timor with corrupt officials is just the perfect set up for people like Rui Lopes and his contacts in Australia and Indonesia to establish their criminal enterprises. When you have corrupt Indonesian military officials maning the border, Rui Lopes effectively running Suai (and now with the help of his mate Alfredo Reinado), his brother Lino Lopes and his criminal networks in the Northern Territory, Rui Lopes financing some figures in the East Timorese political establishment who are potential leaders of the country, and you have the perfect blend to turn a country into a failed state run by thugs, war lords and the criminal underworld. At the same time the Indonesian military figures who never wanted to see East Timor independent from Indonesia will also feel vindicated.
It should not come as a surprise that former militia figures like Rui Lopes and Nemencio de Carvalho chose to side with the anti-government protesters to bring East Timor to a stand still for they have much to gain from this. A failed East Timor will not only to vindicate their political views and those of their former Indonesian military masters, but ultimately it would also make it a perfect ground for their criminal activity. The fact remains that Rui Lopes did not only provide the logistical and financial part int the anti-government protests, he and Nemencio de Carvalho also provided their men to boost the number of protesters, causing much of the disturbance, destruction and violence which nearly brought East Timor to its knees. A failed East Timor will usher in a state where thugs like Rui Lopes, Nemencio de Carvalho and Alfredo Reinado can establish a free reign and a powerbase for their criminal activities, linking them up to their counterparts in Indonesia, Australia and the rest of the world. Forget Rogerio Lobato. He sided with the wrong people and lost out. He is history.
I don't wanto to add to the confusion that is already is the political blamegame in East Timor. What I want is for this issue to be taken seriously and investigated. We cannot have an East Timor with a group of people threathening its stability armed to the teeth. How can we all just sit by and pretend? There is an elephant in the room but no one is talking about it, everyone is looking away. Or is there a reason why everyone is looking away instead of tackling this issue?
Thank you for your attention.
PS: I don't want to sign this post for safety reasons, for myself, my family and friends. In the end, it is the message that is relevant not the messenger.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
One of them is in East Timor in the hands of Alfredo Reinado!
Is this one of the rocket launchers the Aussie government is looking for?
January 06, 2007 11:00pm
STOLEN Australian Army anti-tank rockets and their launchers are believed to have been stowed in plastic pipes and buried in a secret hideaway by a suspected terrorist gang.
Instructions on how to hide the M72 anti-tank rockets were allegedly contained in a computer seized by police in a terrorist raid in 2005, The Sunday Mail has learned.The material detailed how weapons could be concealed in PVC piping, an ideal hide for the weapons that are used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Police surveillance observed a suspect loading a car with several 100mm PVC pipes, originally feared to be for bomb-making.
A Sydney court was told last year that another accused terrorist's vehicle contained a spade, a rake and a small quantity of dirt when seized by police, indicative that digging might have taken place shortly before.
A former Islamic bookshop worker appeared in court in Sydney on Friday accused of selling seven anti-tank rockets to a Sydney crime boss. The alleged seller, Taha Abdul-Rahman, 28, was remanded in custody until next week when police are expected to reveal details of their case against him.
Police allege the crime boss Eddie Darwiche, now serving a life sentence, paid more than $70,000 for the weapons, five of which he onsold to suspected terrorists.
New South Wales and federal police say the gang discussed targeting several prominent buildings including the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney.
The one-shot disposable M72 first used by Australians in Vietnam can pierce a 30cm steel plate or 60cm of reinforced concrete.
Three days after Darwiche was said to have bought the stolen rocket launchers, the crime boss hatched plans to fire one of the anti-tank weapons at a fibro Sydney home where rival gangsters were hiding, according to evidence before a Supreme Court jury last year.
A Darwiche associate, Abbas Osman, contacted a former Canadian military man to seek advice about using the rocket-launcher.
"We want to fire it into a house. I just want to know – if it goes through a house, a fibro house, does it have to hit something hard?" Osman allegedly inquired.
Darwiche apparently left the rocket launcher behind and used two automatic rifles and two pistols to kill his rival and an innocent woman asleep in the house.
Police recovered one rocket launcher last year after Darwiche was convicted of murder.
But the other six are still to be located, with police vowing that "no effort will be spared in pursuing this".
Saturday, January 06, 2007
How did Alfredo Reinado get his hands on the LAW M72 rocket launcher?
Alfredo Reinado's connection to Rui Lopes and Australia's criminal underworld explained.
Alfredo Reinado, the self styled leader of the
anti-government forces.
Pictured with the M72 rocket launcher.
Rui Lopes, former pro-Indonesia
militia leader pictured at the
anti-government rally last year.
Rrecently news flashed of stollen defence department weapons in Australia. These weapons are being reported as destined for terrorist acts targetting numerous buildings including nuclear reactors. Among the weapons stolen were the light anti-tank weapons called M72.
In November of last year pictures of Alfredo Reinado, the self styled rebel soldier who has been accused by UN investigators for murder, was pictured with the same rocket launcher. It is a fact that neither the PNTL (East Timor's police) nor the F-FDTL (East Timor's defence force) have such weapon on their inventory.
However there is a good possibility that these weapons may have been sourced from Indonesia through rouge Indonesian military officers and former militia thugs. It is a well known fact that Rui Lopes, leader of the former Suai pro-autonomy militia Dadurus, and a well known thug in Suai has excellent contacts with remnants of the militia in West Timor as well as rougue Indonesian officers from KOPASSUS. Rui Lopes was himself trained by the KOPASSUS.
Lopes played an key role in the anti-government rallies last year which demanded the resignation of the then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. He also has links with Partidu Demokratiku (PD) becoming one of PD's chief financiers. Just where Lopes gets his money is not anything too difficult to ascertain. Lopes made his fortune serving his Indonesian masters during the Indonesian occupation. Currently it is believed that he is still on the payroll of his former Indonesian masters. He pays regularly visits to West Timor to report to his bosses.
Fernando Lasama Araujo, president of Partido
Demokratiku and an associate of Rui Lopes. He and
his wife, a Pinay named Jaclin Siapno, helped to
spread the false rumours that the F-FDTL
massacred up to 100 people in Tasi Tolu last year.
In the past, his thuggish and brutal ways made him a feared man around Suai and a darling of the Indonesian military, as much as Joao Tavares was in Maliana or Tomas Goncalves in Ermera. These men were groomed by the Indonesian military to be their intermediary in keeping the local population to tow the line. All these men were made Bupati (mayors) of their respected regions. Lopes was a much feared Bupati in Suai, Tomas Goncalves became the Bupati of Ermera and Joao Tavares Bupati of Suai. These were also also key strategic regions under Indonesian occupation and special military attentions have always been paid to them.
Nemencio de Carvalho, another former militia
leader and feared around the district of Same.
He led the Mahidi militia group which was
responsible for a number of murders and
tortures. He is also a close associate of
Fernando Lasama and was responsible for
rounding up supporters in the Same and Suai
border and sending them to Dili to participate
in the anti-government rallies.
When Alfredo Reinado escaped from the Dili prison he made a quick stop in Same to see his mistress, a former F-FDTL soldier who he courted while they were studyin in Canberra. She became pregnant and was dismissed from the force. After this brief stop in Same, Alfredo's final stop was Suai, staying at one of Rui Lopes' farms.
Joe Goncalves, member of East
Timor's Parliament and under
criminal investigation for his involvement
in the coup last year. He is under
investigation for weapon possession and
of attacking the home of Taur Matan Ruak,
chief of F-FDTL. His ex-wife and children
live in Melbourne and have good relations
with Alfredo Reinado. In fact his wife
facilitated Alfredo Reinado's legal situation
while he was still living in Melbourne.
Whenever Alfredo Reinado is in Australia,
he pays regular visit to Joe Goncalves' ex-wife.
Alfredo Reinado was adopted by an Indonesian army officer and was taken to Indonesia where he grew up. He also joined Indonesia's navy prior to moving to East Timor. It is well known that like Rui Lopes, Alfredo Reinado also visits his "friends" in West Timor regularly. Some sources confirmed that Alfredo Reinado spent his New Years Eve in Atambua, West Timor, partying with former members of the pro-Indonesia militia. Remember, Alfredo escaped the Dili prison with a number of inmates convicted for their role in the 1999 violence.
With converging interests, Alfredo Reinado's close relationship with Rui Lopes was an unavoidable outcome. Their history of involvement with the Indonesian army, Alfredo Reinado's links to the militia whom he helped to escape from the prison, their anti-Fretilin political stance and their ambitions for power and wealth made them natural allies. In addition to the fact that both also have Portuguese fathers and Timorese mothers, they also have similar thuggery and womanising characters.
Therefore, could the anti-tank rocket launcher have come from Indonesian military officers in West Timor through Rui Lopes? It is a possibility that we cannot dismiss. However in light of the recent revelations in Australian TV of the stollen defence force weapons, a dazzling yet disturbing development have come before us.
Rui Lopes comes from a big and wealthy mestizo family in Suai. His father was a Portuguese ranch owner in Suai who bred horses. They were staunch supporter of the Portuguese rule and abhorred the prospect of an independent East Timor with the East Timorese as its rullers. The family became UDT's power base in Suai. When Fretilin pushed UDT to West Timor, the Lopes boys became involved in the Partisan, a group of East Timorese young men trained by Indonesian army to counter Fretilin forces and eventually pave the way for Indonesian invasion.
After Indonesian invasion, Rui Lopes stayed in East Timor running his father's ranch in Suai as well becoming the strongman of that region under Indonesian military payroll. His other brothers moved to Australia. Today his brother Lino Lopes lives in Darwin and Almerio Lopes in Cabramatta, Sydney.
Lino Lopes is well known for his criminal activities in Northern Territory. He is involved with various criminal gangs, gun running and drug trafficking. He is under investigation by the Australian police for a series of criminal activity, namely drug trafficking. When the drug ice was speculated to have been present among the gangs that run amock in Dili mid last year, attention suddenly focused on Rui Lopes' brother, Lino.
The Lopes children are also heavily involved in drug abuse as well as trafficking. One of Almerio Lopes sons is a drug addict who regularly visits his uncle and cousins in Darwin. The Lopes children are well known among the East Timorese community in Darwin for their thuggish characters, their drug addiction and their connections to the criminal underworld.
Thus what has this latest revelation in stolen weapons in Australia got to do with Alfredo Reinado holding one of these weapons in East Timor?
The weapon in Alfredo Reinado's possession may have come from Australia through the Lopes' families in Australia. This particular weapon surfaced in East Timor just after these weapons were stolen from Australia's defence department. It could have arrived in East Timor through Lino Lopes' contact in the Australian criminal underworld (many of them biker gangs), just like the possibility of the drug ice getting there.
The connections are just obvious to be ignored. The Astralian federal police should be alerted and the Lopes family in Darwin and Sydney investigated. Here these rocket launchers have been sold to groups with terrorist intents. They have been sold for as little as AU$5,000 each. The Lopes family's connection to the criminal underworld here in Australia would have facilitated its transfer to East Timor. It could have arrived through one of the containers in the Dili wharves, or it could have gone in there through West Timor. One of checking it is very simple. The Australian army should confiscate the rocket launcher and check its origin.
To read the news of the missing weapons, please click here, here and here.
Here are pictures of Alfredo Reinado holding the M72 rocket launchers:
Here are some pictures of the type of missing rocket launchers in question:
Information about LAW M72 can be accessed here, here and here.
Any comments are most welcomed.
