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The terrified Australian wife of East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told her children to hide under the bed when she discovered there were armed gunmen stalking her house. She then made a panicked call to her husband to discover he was already under fire.

Under guard by UN security forces and speaking from a secret location in Dili, Kirsty Sword Gusmao gave her account of the morning when the President and Prime Minister of East Timor were targets of assassination attempts, which started with Mr Gusmao ignoring orders from the country's security chief not to leave the family home.

"Round about 7.30 in the morning, Xanana's driver came around and alerted us there had been an incident involving Jose Ramos Horta and there were unconfirmed reports that he had been injured in a shooting attack. We were advised by the Secretary of State for Defence that we should stay in our house until further notice," Mrs Sword Gusmao said.

"Now Xanana, being extremely concerned about the news of the present situation, proceeded down to Dili immediately."

Only moments later, however, her personal security attache advised her that there were armed gunmen stalking the surroundings of the house.

"My first concern was for the children who had just got out of the bath and we were readying them to get to school. I got them dressed quickly and got them to get under the bed not knowing how many men we were talking about."

Mrs Sword Gusmao, who was looking after her own three children as well as a mother and her four children fleeing domestic violence, attempted to comfort the children but admitted she was preparing herself for "a hail of bullets".

"Then it was a case of just sitting tight with the children and calming them down … I just said to them (the children) that there were some people who were not happy with daddy and perhaps wanted to cause some harm to daddy, and it wasn't about us and nobody was trying to hurt us.

"Of course, in my heart I wasn't sure that was the case at all. I wouldn't have been surprised at that point if there had been a hail of bullets through the window."

But when Mrs Sword Gusmao tried to contact her husband for help, she was met by the horrific sounds of his attempted assassination.

"I rang Xanana at that point to tell him that we were at great risk, and at that very moment Xanana's car was being ambushed and it was clear that (there) was tremendous mayhem and panic happening, and that only added to my fear and terror."

The siege was eventually defused when the family's personal guards, some of whom knew the attackers, managed to convince the rebels that the house only contained women and children.

"My very brave security guards, Timorese members of the police force, were able to go and negotiate with the armed men, some of which they knew personally and I think to convince them that Xanana wasn't there in the house and it was completely fruitless."

What followed was a nervous 1½ hours trapped in the house until elite Portuguese special military police arrived to collect the family, escorting back them back to Dili where they were reunited with Mr Gusmao.

Mrs Sword Gusmao, who is originally from Melbourne, met Mr Gusmao when he was imprisoned in Indonesia. She later acted as a spy for the East Timorese.

She said that although she knew an attempt on Mr Gusmao's life was always a possibility, she never believed it would happen.

"I never really believed in my heart that there would ever be an attempt on his life, much less involve myself or the children."

But Mrs Sword Gusmao vowed the risks would not deter her from going on living in East Timor.

"A number of people rang offering us the option of evacuation … but, as was the case in 2006, I thought, no, I've thrown my lot in with Timor-Leste and with the people."

The Age

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