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DILI - East Timor's president Jose Ramos-Horta was in a serious but stable condition in Darwin Hospital today, facing more surgery for up to three bullet wounds, doctors said.
Ramos-Horta was critically wounded in an assassination attempt in Dili yesterday and airlifted to hospital in Darwin on life support and in an induced coma.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped unhurt when rebels fired on his motorcade as part of a co-ordinated attack on the nation's leadership.
Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed during the attack on Ramos-Horta near the president's Dili home.
Up to 200 additional Australian troops and police were being sent to East Timor, where a state of emergency has been declared following yesterday's failed coup attempt.
Dili was quiet this morning, residents reported.
Ramos-Horta, 58, is expected to make a full recovery following the assassination attempt, the head of Royal Darwin Hospital said.
Hospital general manager Dr Len Notaras said three surgeons operated on the Nobel Peace prize winner for two to three hours last night, dressing bullet wounds and removing shrapnel.
"I would expect that he is quite resilient and I expect that recovery would be a full recovery," Notaras told ABC Radio.
"That is not to, in any way, underestimate the severity of the injuries and the nastiness of the gunshot wounds.
"They are terrible injuries ... but we are hoping to give him the best chance at a full recovery."
Notaras said Ramos-Horta was on a ventilator to assist his breathing and his most serious injury was a bullet wound in his right lung. Ramos-Horta also has a small bullet fragment still in his body that posed no threat.
The president, who remains in an induced coma, will undergo further surgery.
"The most severe is a wound to his lower right chest, there were soft tissue wounds to the back and around the area of the ... shoulder blade," said Notaras.
"We'll have to go back to theatre, probably in the next 24-26 hours, for some more staged surgery but at this stage we are looking quite stable."
Notaras said the injuries were caused by a "high-velocity weapon" but it was too early to determine whether there were two or three gunshot wounds.
"It's either two or three bullets that have been involved in this," he said.
"Fragments of those bullets have been removed and retained for forensic investigation."
About 200 fast reaction troops from Australia and more police headed to Dili today in support of Australian-led international forces, who have put the capital under a 48-hour curfew.
The troops, from the ready-reaction force in Townsville, along with Australian Federal Police and HMAS Perth were expected to reach Dili later today.
An Agence France Presse correspondent in Dili said streets were deserted, shops and kiosks shuttered barring a few hotels, and Australian and Portuguese troops on patrol on several roads.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who will travel to Dili later in the week, said he had been told Dili was calm and the East Timorese government remained in full control of the country.
He will meet with defence chiefs to determine first-hand what additional help Australia can provide following yesterday's suspected coup attempt.
Rudd said a decision on whether international troops would begin a hunt for the rebels involved in the attack would be taken later by operational commanders.
Ramos-Horta was ambushed while returning from a morning jog and he suffered up to three bullet wounds in the attack.
United Nations forces also have been accused of leaving the president to bleed on his bed for up to an hour before Portuguese paramilitary police arrived to transport him to medical care.
"I want to establish the facts first and then we'll reach rapid judgments about how things can be done more effectively on the ground," Rudd said.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australian troops may be used to pursue those behind the attacks, thought to number at least 20.
"The very strong view of the East Timorese government is that ... these people now need to be rounded up," Smith told ABC TV.
Fugitive rebel leader Reinado and one of his men were killed in the attack on Ramos-Horta, while one of the president's guards also died, said army spokesman Major Domingos da Camara.
"I consider this incident a coup attempt against the state by Reinado and it failed," Gusmao said. He called it a well-planned operation intended to "paralyse the government and create instability".
"This government won't fall because of this," he said.
Reinado was among 600 mutinous soldiers dismissed by the government in 2006 - a move that triggered gunbattles between security forces that later spilled over into gang fighting and ethnic unrest.
At least 37 people were killed and more than 150,000 people forced from their homes in the unrest, which also led to the resignation of the country's first post-independence prime minister.
Reinado was arrested but broke out from jail after several months.
He was charged with murder in connection with the 2006 violence, but had remained in hiding with an unknown number of supporters and had threatened armed insurrection against the government.
-AAP
