East Timor president recounts assassination bid

President Jose Ramos-Horta spoke for the first time on Wednesday about the assassination attempt on his life in February, which left him critically wounded, and called for peace in East Timor.

"I remember every detail from the moment I was shot," a thin and unshaven Ramos-Horta told doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital where he underwent several operations after being shot by rebels in the East Timor capital Dili.

"I remember everything, the ambulance, a very old battered ambulance. No paramedic. A Portuguese special police unit. Luckily it had a paramedic who jumped in the ambulance and gave me the first assistance," said a slow-walking Ramos-Horta, during a visit to the hospital to thank doctors for their care.

"On the way to the (Dili) heliport I fell off the chair a few times because there were no (seat) belts. I remember even though I was bleeding I was holding on tight," he said.

"And I was telling the driver - go slow. But maybe he was wise because it was only a matter of minutes for me to arrive there (at the military medical centre)."

Rebel soldiers ambushed Ramos-Horta during an early morning walk on February 11, and also attacked Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Ramos-Horta was shot several times in the attack in which rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed, while Gusmao escaped unharmed in the separate attack. Rebel soldiers blamed for the attacks escaped a siege by security forces last week.

Ramos-Horta, who is convalescing in Darwin, said he would be returning to East Timor in a few weeks and called for peace in his small country.

"I will be here for a few more weeks because I need additional therapy for a quick recovery," he said.

"My message to my people is please forgo violence and hatred with weapons, machetes, with arson - we only destroy each other and the country."

East Timor, Asia's youngest nation has been unable to achieve stability since its hard-won independence from Indonesia in 2002.

The army tore apart along regional lines in 2006, when about 600 soldiers were sacked, triggering factional violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes. Foreign troops were sent to restore order in the former Portuguese colony of about one million.

Ramos-Horta, who at times was too emotional to speak, said he wanted to thank all who had prayed for his recovery, from Pope Benedict to the people of East Timor.

"There are so many thousands of people in Timor - the bishops, the priests, the nuns, the common people who have prayed for me. I thank all of my people. I will be back soon," he said.