Alfredo Reinado was considered trouble by those hoping for quiet in Timor. He was outspoken. He had escaped a jail where he was held on a firearms charge. It was said that he was concerned with security there, that someone might steal him from prison for their own purposes. In trying to capture him, Australian special forces killed five of his men, prompting Timor PM Jose Ramos Horte to call of the chase for dialog.
In an Australian context, Rudd was talking up big his diplomacy ability, and pointing at Timor as being unstable. When Rudd was made PM in November '07, Reinado was a fugitive, wanted for murder. Come February, Reinado launched an extraordinary action to capture the Timorise PM and President, dying in the raid. Rudd remained silent on Timor after, offering assistance to the Timorise PM who had been shot. Details of the raid are not widely known, nor what Reinado hoped to achieve by it.
Gillard tried to coopt Timor to her aid over border protection and her pacific solution. Did Rudd know something that Gillard didn't, or was it merely plausible deniability? Were Australian special forces involved in a botched sting which killed Reinado? Or was a third party black ops force involved? Why did Reinado attempt what he did, and why did he die, but no one else?
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