East Timor’s parliament is ”corrupt and ineffective”, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has an alcohol problem and former prime minister Mari Alkatiri is ”arrogant and abusive”, leaked US embassy cables cite President Jose Ramos-Horta saying, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Ramos-Horta’s caustic observations have been revealed in cables published by WikiLeaks.

But the President doesn’t emerge unscathed. The Catholic Church is recorded as sharply criticising the East Timorese leader. A senior Vatican official is reported by US diplomats as observing ”Ramos-Horta started with good intentions but had let his Nobel prize go to his head”.

All the US diplomatic cables leaked to WikiLeaks were published two weeks ago, but 390 reports from the American embassy in Dili have not attracted media attention until now.

Mr Ramos-Horta, described as a ”legendary international negotiator”, brands Mr Gusmao as ”arrogant, but he likes to pretend to be humble, unlike Alkatiri, who doesn’t even pretend to be anything but arrogant”.

FULL STORY

Ramos-Horta savages Timor leaders (Sydney Morning Herald)