East Timor's transitional government on Thursday moved forward with a controversial plan to adopt Portuguese as the country's official language by announcing it would recruit 723 Portug

On 6 and 7 June, the Indonesian government went ahead with controversial plans to register East Timorese refugees in West Timor and determine whether they wished to remain in Indonesia

An Indonesian military commander has ordered his troops to arrest East Timorese militiamen who are still operating from refugee camps in neighbouring West Timor, the official Antara new

Jon Land – As campaigning for the Constituent Assembly elections slowly gathers momentum across East Timor, the installation of Megawati Sukarnoputri as Indonesia's new president has dr

About 19,800 coffee farmers in Timor Lorosae have to swallow the bitter pill because of sharp falls in worldwide coffee prices.

The United Nations Security Council yesterday decided to extend the presence of UNTAET in Timor Lorosae till early 2002.

Mark Dodd, Dili – In a surprise move, American company Phillips Petroleum and its joint venture partners have deferred indefinitely plans to build a $1.5 billion Timor Sea to Darwin nat

UN transition administration officials acknowledged Monday that issues of justice and human rights in East Timor remain a problem but dismissed a negative Amnesty International report a

Ongoing corrections to preliminary voters lists in East Timor have included an additional 18,000 names and will bring the total electorate for August 30 constituent assembly elections t

Tapol today expressed dismay at a controversial decision on Wednesday by the Dili District Court to release Dr Sergio Lobo – a surgeon at the Dili Hospital and candidate in the forthcom

Sydney – Justice and human rights in East Timor are still not guaranteed even though a UN administration in the former Indonesian territory will end its mission there in a few months, A

Mark Dodd, Kupang – In what will probably be the last refugee repatriation voyage, 179 East Timorese boarded the Patricia Anne Hotung this week homeward bound for Dili and a fresh start

Four groups of international observers and eight East Timorese organizations have already registered with Dili electoral officials to monitor the territory's first free vote on August 3

Irwin Arieff, United Nations – The United Nations said on Wednesday it would reduce its presence in East Timor after the tiny territory gained its independence, expected early in 2002,

East Timor's official television and radio station's have begun broadcasting the second round of campaign messages allotted political parties and independent candidates contesting the A

A joint campaign by seven political parties to hit the hustings in Lospalos Monday was called off because transportation promised by UNTAET failed to turn up.

Mark Dodd – The Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Belo has indicated support for a Fretilin victory at the election for a Constituent Assembly on August 30.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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".

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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