Repúblika Banana

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.