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José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL AC is the United Nations' special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. He was appointed to this position on 2 January 2013. Previously, he was special envoy to fellow Lusophone country, Guinea-Bissau, and was the President of East Timor from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012, the second since independence from Indonesia. He is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize and a former prime minister, having served from 2006 until his inauguration as president after winning the 2007 East Timorese presidential election. As a founder and former member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. While he has continued to work with FRETILIN, Ramos-Horta resigned from the party in 1988, becoming an independent politician.
After East Timor achieved independence in 2002, Ramos-Horta was appointed as the country's first foreign minister. He served in this position until his resignation on 25 June 2006, amidst political turmoil. On 26 June, following the resignation of prime minister Mari Alkatiri, Ramos-Horta was appointed acting prime minister by then president, Xanana Gusmão. Two weeks later, on 10 July 2006, he was sworn in as the second prime minister of East Timor. On 11 February 2008, Ramos-Horta was injured when he was shot during an assassination attempt.
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