E Timor president conscious again

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East Timor's president has regained consciousness from a drug-induced coma, 10 days after he was seriously wounded in an attack by renegade soldiers.

Doctors treating Jose Ramos-Horta said he was recovering slowly and had spoken briefly to his family.

Mr Ramos-Horta was airlifted to an Australian hospital after rebel soldiers shot him at his home in Dili.

Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack and Australian-led troops are now searching for his followers.

The rebels also shot at a car carrying Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, but he was not hurt.

Agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have arrived in East Timor to help investigate the attacks.

'Waking up

Mr Ramos-Horta, who received bullet wounds to the back and chest, has undergone a series of operations at the Australian hospital.

"Doctors at Royal Darwin Hospital have reported that President Jose Ramos-Horta continued his steady recovery today and is slowly waking up," his spokesman, Luke Gosling, said in a statement.

"The president has said a few words to family and is resting," he said.

East Timor has been under a state of emergency since the 11 February attacks, with troops and international peacekeepers maintaining a heavy presence.

At least 17 arrest warrants have been issued in connection with the attacks, which have been attributed to a group of renegade soldiers with grievances dating back to the violence that paralysed East Timor in May 2006.

Australian and other soldiers - invited into East Timor in the wake of the violence - are now searching the hills outside Dili for the armed rebels.