Mark Dodd, Aileu – When it came time to harvest new varieties of sweet potato in an agriculture project in Aileu, an East Timor mountain town, the response was overwhelming – the farmer

Mark Dodd, Viqueque – East Timorese voters have sent their political leaders a strong message to end violence and work towards improving living standards and social services.

Avelinho Coelho, the secretary-general of the Timor Socialist Party (PST) said the Constituent Assembly to be formed after the 30 August election must not be structured like the now-dis

Yogyakarta – Some fifty members from East Timorese prointegration groups held a modest ceremony on Tuesday at Yogyakarta's East Timor Students Dormitory to celebrate what they called "t

East Timorese electoral officials Wednesday acknowledged "systematic failures" in the preparation of voters' lists for the August 30 constituent assembly balloting and appealed to the p

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Seated in a conference room of the Sheraton Nusa Dua Hotel in Bali, an agitated Indonesian president B.J. Habibie thumped his fist on the table.

A Defensive Alexander Downer undoubtedly has his eyes on the history books with the publication of the Government's apologia for its handling of the East Timor crisis.

Craig Skehan – An official history of Australia's role in East Timor's transition to independence reveals that the Federal Government knew more than it was willing to admit at the time

A team dispatched to verify rumors of planned election violence in East Timor reported Wednesday they had found the territory's "most vulnerable" areas "calm and serene".

Three days after the start of the official campaign period for August 30 elections, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) became the first party to publish an advertisement in the East Ti

Karen Polglaze, Canberra – A new book on Australia's foreign policy approach to East Timor from 1998 to 2000 is highly selective and partisan, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Lauri

East Timor's Independent Electoral Commission has rejected more than 70 potential candidates for the August 30 constituent assembly elections.

Dili – East Timor's defacto parliament, the National Council, was dissolved on Saturday, one day before the start of political campaigning for a new 88-seat Constituent Assembly, taking

Mark Dodd, Dili – Campaigning for East Timor's first democratic elections began at the weekend, but hopes for a smooth start were marred by a strike and the seizure of a consignment of

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Campaigning began yesterday for East Timor's first election, but confusion reigns in the minds of voters about what they are voting for and whether it bears a

East Timor's transitional administration saw a flurry of moves today and over the weekend as political activity began to heat up in the half-island territory ahead of the United Nations

Tony Kevin – Tomorrow, Alexander Downer launches a book on Australia's role in East Timor between 1998 and 2000. One wonders why he should wish to reopen this Pandora's box.

Jon Land – The start of the formal election campaign period for East Timor's new Constituent Assembly began on July 15.

East Timor's Independent Electoral Commission Friday determined the order in which the territory's 16 political parties and five independent candidates will appear on the national ballo

Mark Dodd, Dili – Two days before the start of East Timor's election campaign for a Constituent Assembly, the territory's United Nations administrator, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, has pr

On July 5, representatives of the East Timor Transitional Cabinet, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor and the Australian government met in Dili and signed the

With Wednesday passing as the final deadline for East Timorese to challenge the list of proposed candidates for the upcoming elections, the United Nations transitional administration to

Jakarta – UN officials in East Timor raised concern Tuesday about the fate of refugees who chose to be repatriated from squalid camps in Indonesia during an Indonesian-run census last m

Mark Dodd, Dili – Indonesian security forces have arrested 23 hardcore militiamen including the notorious leader of the gang involved in the 1999 massacre in East Timor's Suai cathedral

Only 666 of the 1,250 East Timorese refugees Indonesian authorities said wanted to return to their homeland last month have been able to do so, UN officials said on Tuesday.

Dili – As a UN security team toured refugee camps near Indonesian controlled West Timor's border with East Timor Tuesday, officials of the world body in Dili warned that pro-Jakarta mil

The UN has its own investigation team in East Timor. Some prosecutions have started against minor players. But the power to investigate stops abruptly at the border with West Timor.

Dili – East Timor's political parties have agreed to sign a non-violence pact to avoid bloodshed before and after historic elections next month, the United Nations said yesterday.

Jakarta – Australia and East Timor signed a multi-billion dollar agreement Thursday on dividing royalties from oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea despite an unsavoury row between key

East Timor's big hope for independence was signed yesterday – a pact ensuring the soon-to-be nation has economic security through oil and gas revenue.

Mark Dodd, Saburai village – After leaving the squalor of a refugee camp in West Timor, one of militia leader Victor Lopes's first acts on returning to his mountain village was to regis

Nigel Wilson – Billions of dollars in Timor Sea investment remain in doubt despite the signing in Dili today of a framework agreement on sharing revenues from oil and gas developments.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, says it is "generous". The Northern Territory Chief Minister, Mr Burke, calls it "extremely generous".

The new Timor Gap agreement was signed today with the tensions of tough negotiations still apparent.

Craig Skehan – East Timor will receive $7 billion over 20 years under a historic agreement with Australia on the sharing of oil and gas revenues from fields in the Timor Sea.

Vanya Tanaja, Liquica – Amidst the rubble of government offices which the jungle is starting to reclaim stands a flagpole flying, not the Indonesian red and white, but the red flag, the

[This is an exclusive extract from "Appeasing Jakarta: Australia's Complicity in the East Timor Tragedy", the second in the Quarterly Essay series published by Black Inc., Melbourne,

Geoffrey Barker – It will be the ironic fate of independent East Timor to have its key international economic and security relationships with three countries responsible for much of its

The first major trial of atrocities committed in East Timor by Indonesian forces and proxy militias got underway in Dili Tuesday, with a three-judge panel hearing preliminary issues beh

Ten political parties, out of the 16, registered with the Independent Electoral Commission are disappointed with the aid package made available by Untaet.

East Timor's 16 parties and UN transition administration have completed the draft of a "National Unity Pact", which expresses support for the election of independence leader Xanana Gusm

Approximately 93 per cent of the estimated population in East Timor have been registered in advance of upcoming elections, the United Nations mission in the territory announced today.

Wendy Pugh, Melbourne – In an upheaval of Australia's energy market, petroleum and pipeline companies are racing to nail down multi-billion-dollar projects to deliver new supplies of ga

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations has told the people of East Timor they will be virtually self-governing from September 15 – but that the UN will decide who will form the government

The UN administration in East Timor has prepared a package of wide-ranging logistical and material aid for 16 parties and independent candidates contesting the territory's first electio

The head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) today presented the first State of the Nation address to the East Timorese National Council, giving an

Atambua – Facing the prospect of resettling tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees, an Indonesian government delegation on Thursday appealed to pro-Jakarta militia leaders to retur

A group of presumed anti-independence militiamen opened fire Thursday on a patrol of UN peacekeepers in the East Timorese district of Maliana, near the border with Indonesia.

Paula Doran – For half of his 30 years Domingos lived chained to a wooden bench behind his village home in the hills of East Timor.

Mark Dodd, Dill – The United Nations in East Timor will encourage staff to volunteer for HIV tests but cannot make them compulsory on human rights grounds.