East Timor ? Rebel soldiers shot and wounded East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta and opened fire on the prime minister today as part of a failed coup in the recently independent nation, officials said.

Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace laureate, was wounded in the stomach but in stable condition, while Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped the attack on his motorcade unhurt.

Army spokesman Maj. Domingos da Camara said notorious rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack against the home of Ramos-Horta, while one of the president’s guards also died.

Today’s violence plunged the tiny country into fresh uncertainty after a flare-up in violence in 2006 killed 37 people, displaced more than 150,000 others and led to the collapse of the government. Security in the country has since been overseen by the United Nations.