Indonesian Ambassador-at-large, Lopes Da cruz, has refuted foreign allegations that a special program has been developed to spread Islam in the predominantly Roman Catholic province of East Timor. "That is untrue. Catholicism is well developed in that area [East Timor]," he said in Canada on Saturday.

Geneva – The camera zooms in to show a man's blood-covered wrist, nailed to his prison plank. Men in khakis torture inmates with sticks, chair legs, electric shocks and metal chains. A corpse wrapped in rags lies in a corner.

Jakarta – Indonesia said on Monday that Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta's claim that he had fresh evidence of widespread torture in East Timor was "a lot of nonsense."

When Jose Ramos Horta won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with his fellow East Tmorese, Monsignor Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, there were hopes he might be able to dispel the dark cloud of silence that has engulfed the genocide of his people.

ASIET has received the following message (abridged translation) from the East Timorese underground in Java.

Statement begins: Suharto regime murders more Maubere people

Paul Mcgeough and agencies – Dozens of young East Timorese detained since the military broke up a peaceful demonstration in Dili two weeks ago are still in prison, some showing clear signs of being beaten by their captors, the Most Rev Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo says.

ASIET has received the following message (abridged translation) from the East Timorese underground in Java

Statement begins: Suharto regime murders more Maubere people

Ian Howarth – BHP Petroleum was announced yesterday as the operator of a new multibillion-dollar oil and gas development in the Timor Sea, based on the rich Bayu-Undan discovery.

The $1 billion first stage of the project was confirmed yesterday, and the final details of an associated proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will be settled within weeks.

Lisbon – The Indonesian police has still under custody 25 out of the 33 East Timorese students arrested last week after breaking into the Austrian embassy, sources told Lusa.

Indonesian police have freed 33 East Timorese who had been held since last Thursday after entering the Austrian embassy in Jakarta in an effort to meet a United Nations envoy on East Timor. A diplomat says the youths were dropped off in three groups at different bus stations in the Indonesian capital. It is not known whether police plans to press charges against the youths.

Four East Timorese refugees and a Catholic priest arrested in East Trespass at British Aerospace Warton

In a letter dated 31 March 1997 to the chief of police of Jakarta, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, the YLBHI, has asked whether the Jakarta police are holding the 33 East Timorese who were arrested in Jakarta on 27 March.

Jakarta – An East Timorese man has been jailed for one year for spreading hatred against Indonesian President Suharto after displaying a banner in the territory last year, the Antara news agency reported on Monday.

Jakarta – A member of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission has accused the country's police of physically maltreating East Timorese who staged a demonstration during a visit to the conflict-territory last week by United Nations (UN) envoy, Jamsheed Marker.

Lisbon – The Indonesian police has demanded 33 East Timorese youths arrested last week after breaking into the Austrian embassy in Jakarta to sign a declaration accepting the annexation of East Timor by Indonesia if they want to be released, sources told Lusa.

Jakarta – The United Nations special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said he met jailed rebel leader Xanana Gusmao on Thursday at the end of his fact-finding mission to Indonesia.

Marker told a news conference that he met Gusmao in Jakarta but would not give any more details.

Jakarta – The UN special envoy on East Timor on Thursday met Jose Xanana Gusmao the jailed leader of the troubled territory's pro-independence movement as part of UN efforts to reactivate a peace process.

A group of 33 East Timorese who sought refuge in Jakarta's Austrian embassy have left the complex for an undisclosed destination.

An embassy spokeswoman says the youths left of their own will and were picked up by the police shortly after they emerged. The spokeswoman says the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has promised that the group will be treated well.

Jakarta – Forty-five people remained in detention in the East Timor capital on Monday, a day after a violent demonstration outside the hotel where a United Nations special envoy is staying for a key visit.

Residents said Dili appeared calm but the area around the downtown hotel where UN envoy Jamsheed Marker was staying remained heavily guarded by police.

The United Nations special envoy on East Timor has held talks in Jakarta with East Timorese who had demanded the meeting after earlier forcing their way into the Austrian embassy.

Twenty-four of those arrested in connection with a demonstration at the Mahkota Hotel in Dili on 23 March 1997 remain in custody and are now facing charges for publicly expressing hatred against the government. The remaining 21 arrested on 23 March appear to have been released.

Agencies in Jakarta – A group of East Timorese youths gained a meeting with a UN special envoy yesterday after breaking into the Austrian Embassy in Jakarta and demonstrating for self-determination in their homeland.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military said on Wednesday 33 East Timorese youths now inside the Austrian embassy in Jakarta would be questioned once they left the mission, the official Antara news agency reported.

The agency quoted armed forces spokesman Brigadier-General Slamet Supriadi as saying the actions of the youths, who climbed over the embassy's fence, were improper.

Police in East Timor say they have charged 24 people with showing hatred towards the Indonesian government.

Geneva – East Timor independence leader Jose Ramos Horta, quoting Catholic Church sources on the troubled island, said on Tuesday that Indonesian troops had seriously wounded 18 youths at a weekend demonstration.

ASIET has received information from the Jakarta based Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) that seven East Timorese youth have been shot dead, four severely injured and 38 with lesser wounds at a peaceful gathering taking place inside the Mahkota Hotel in Dili.

From 48 anti integration people who attend the demonstration at Mahkota Timur Hotel, this Sunday (23/3), 24 of them were arrested and officially became suspects after being interrogate by the security forces. 10 others were immediately release, and 14 became witnesses. There are possibility that this 14 people will become suspects too, said Dili Chief of Police Lt. Col.

Jakarta – Thirty-three East Timorese entered the Austrian embassy compound in Jakarta on Tuesday, demanding a meeting with visiting U.N. special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker.

[Chronology of Mahkota Hotel incident, Dili 23 March 1997. Received from Jakarta on 23 March.]

Seven East Timorese youth are thought to have died, seven were seriously wounded and 38 others wounded less seriously after failing to meet the UN Secretary-general's special representative for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker at the Mahkota Hotel in Dili.

Dili, E Timor – The UN Secretary General's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said he will return to the province to gather more information.

"I am really impressed by the beauty of East Timor that I want to return to see the developments that will take place," Marker said before departing from the Comoro airport here Monday.

Dili, E Timor – The visiting UN Secretary General's Envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said here Saturday he was satisfied with the explanations by Local Military Commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon on the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces in East Timor.

Dili – About 50 East Timorese staged a non-violent protest Monday against Indonesian rule of their territory, a day after hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police during a visit by a U.N. investigator.

There were no arrests at the protest, in a marketplace, which dispersed after about 30 minutes, said the local police chief, Col. Jusuf Muharam.

Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of at least 48 East Timorese currently in detention following a demonstration in Dili on 23 March.

East Timorese youths have held a second demonstration in Dili over their failure to meet a special United Nations envoy.

Police say the demonstration at Becora market in East Dili was small and non-violent and there were no arrests.

From Reuters 23 March

According to the Indonesian version, 48 people have been arrested after taking part in a violent (sic) anti integrasi demonstration outside Mahkota Hotel. Shots were fired during the incident but these were 'warning shots' into the air according to procedure law down by law,' said Dili police chief, Colonel Atok Rismanto.

Dili, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces clashed Sunday with East Timorese activists trying to see a U.N. envoy, killing two people and injuring 38, a security official said.

Dili, Indonesia – Indonesian security forces clashed Sunday with East Timorese activists trying to see a U.N. envoy, killing two people and injuring 38, a security official said.

Linawati Sidarto, Dili – A senior US government human rights official met with community leaders on the second day of a fact-finding visit to the troubled territory of East Timor on Friday.

Joe Leahy, Dili – Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo said yesterday human rights abuses were continuing in East Timor despite renewed international concern over problems in the former Portuguese colony.

Asked about the status of human rights in East Timor since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, Bishop Belo said: "It's not very good."

Patrick Walters, Baucau – The young men in black T-shirts came in their hundreds to the centre of Baucau. With sombre faces they linked arms and formed a protective cordon for the procession of the new Bishop of Baucau, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento, to the town's newly consecrated Cathedral of St Antonio.

Manchester Magistrates today sentenced Stuart Cooper, 27 of Garwoods Road, South Manchester, to 14 days at Risley Prison (617 Warrington Road, Risley, Cheshire, WA3 6BP) for his refusal to pay court costs. The costs resulted from his conviction for criminal damage to a security perimeter fence at British Aerospace Warton, Lancs, in July 1996.

Agencies in Jakarta – The UN special envoy to East Timor said yesterday that productive talks were needed to achieve an acceptable global solution over the former Portuguese colony.

"The important thing is that the dialogue should continue... and we have to find means of ensuring that... it is productive," envoy Jamsheed Marker said after meeting President Suharto.

Alexander G. Higgins, Geneva – Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta rejected an opportunity Thursday to appear before the U.N. Human Rights Commission to champion East Timor's cause, accusing Indonesia of meddling.

Geneva – Indonesia and other countries have sought barring East Timorese self-determination activist Jose Ramos Horta from addressing the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) standing in a podium, sources have said.

They said on Wednesday that Indonesia has pressured for Ramos Horta not to be granted the privilege.

Jakarta – President Suharto Thursday told a top U.N. envoy who is here to discuss the conflict in East Timor that Indonesia's annexation of the former Portuguese colony if final and non-negotiable.

In his meeting with envoy Jamshed Marker, Suharto said that 'for the people of Indonesia, for the Indonesian nation, the problem of East Timor is over.'

Patrick Walters, Baucau, East Timor – Pope John Paul II yesterday delivered one of his strongest messages on the East Timor problem, calling for a truly just and internationally accepted solution as the Catholic church moved to consolidate its position in the troubled territory.

Palembang – Two Hawk-200 aircraft purchased from the UK will arrive in Indonesia on Friday 21 March, completing the supply of 24 Hawk 200/100 contract. The other 22 are now at Ppekanbaru airbase.

Geneva – Indonesia and other countries were applying pressure Wednesday to stop East Timor nobel peace prize winner Ramos Horta addressing the UN Human Rights Commission from a podium, different sources here said.

Joe Leahy, Dili – East Timor's new Catholic bishop, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento, is said to be a man who is willing to stand up for the rights of his people.

Joe Leahy – East Timor's new bishop has issued a firm warning he will not back down on human rights issues and says he supports some measure of autonomy for the troubled province if it does not lead to civil strife.

Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento made the comments a day before he was due to take up his new post as the bishop of East Timor's newly formed diocese of Baucau.