The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Dili

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has forgiven the rebel leader who led an attack on his home in which he was shot, the country's interim president said Monday. Ramos-Horta had called for calm and asked for a thorough investigation into the February 11 attacks on himself and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped unharmed, said Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo. "The president also said that he forgives the deceased, Alfredo Reinado Alves, and asked the government to support Alfredo's family," de Araujo said in a statement after visiting the Nobel peace laureate in hospital in Australia. Reinado was killed in an exchange of fire during the attack in which Ramos-Horta was seriously wounded outside his Dili home.