East Timor's Parliament has an unusual gift in mind for its people today, the second anniversary of independence. Since East Timor first raised its national flag in 2002, popular euphoria has been slowly but steadily seeping away. Last year the fragile economy declined.

Matthew Moore, Dili and Craig Skehan – Five years after more than 14,000 United Nations troops and police restored order to a devastated East Timor, and on the eve of the second anniversary of the country's independence, Dili has taken over responsibility for its defence and internal policing.

Dili – Fledgling nation East Timor is making good progress in rebuilding its shattered infrastructure, cutting its budget deficit and making laws to stimulate its moribund economy, international donors said Wednesday.

However, East Timorese officials insist they need more aid to reduce poverty, establish a judiciary and provide security.

James Bowden, Darwin & Iggy Kim, Sydney – A public meeting of 40 people on May 6 had spirited discussion and debate on the Australian government's theft of East Timor's oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.

Jon Lamb – Not much has been publicly revealed about the mid-April negotiations between Australia and East Timor on the maritime boundary. The ABC Four Corners on May 10, however, made it clear that the Coalition government intends to continue to refuse East Timor sovereign control over its territory in the Timor Sea.

Michelle Nichols, Canberra – East Timor, the world's newest nation, is in danger of becoming a failed state because Australia is dragging its feet on maritime border talks and hindering the development of its neighbour, aid agency Oxfam said on Thursday.

Dili – East Timor wants to find a solution "acceptable to all" for crimes against humanity committed in its territory in 1999 by Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militias, its foreign minister said Sunday.

Jakarta – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said his government could not annul an arrest warrant for Indonesian retired General Wiranto issued by a United Nations-backed human rights tribunal based in Dili, Indonesia's news agency reported Sunday.

As East Timor prepares for the second anniversary of independence next week, the country remains one of the world's poorest. For most East Timorese, education and basic health care – even access to clean water – are beyond reach. The situation has been highlighted by the death of a 12 year old girl.

Presenter/Interviewer: Marion MacGregor

United Nations – The UN Security Council voted to keep a drastically scaled back UN mission in East Timor to support the legal, law enforcement and security institutions that the government has established since independence two years ago.

The UN Security Council is set to renew the mandate of the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) for a further six months, the United Nations said yesterday.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – In an extraordinary reversal, East Timor's prosecutor-general has distanced himself from an arrest warrant issued for Wiranto, former Indonesian armed forces commander and heavyweight presidential candidate in Indonesia's forthcoming election.

Mark Colvin: There's more trouble tonight for the embattled Canberra defence intelligence establishment. The family of Lieutenant Colonel Merv Jenkins, Australia's top spy in Washington during the East Timor crisis, is taking the Federal Government to court.

Dili – East Timor's chief prosecutor has asked judges to revoke an arrest warrant for Indonesian presidential candidate Gen. Wiranto over the 1999 violence in the half-island nation, saying prosecutors needed to further review the case.

Longuinhos Monteiro described the warrant issued by the UN-backed special tribunal earlier this week as "premature."

With a warrant out for his arrest, the general should not be a political candidate.

The presidential campaign of Indonesia's Golkar Party is off to a shaky start – in international eyes at least. A United Nations court in East Timor has issued a warrant for the arrest of the party's candidate, the former Indonesian armed forces commander, Wiranto.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – East Timor's top prosecutor has said there "might be some defects" in an indictment against former and serving Indonesian officers accused of human rights abuses in a move that appears certain to sink any further attempts to prosecute them.

Canberra – Australia will leave around 100 peacekeeping troops in East Timor if the United Nations extends its mission in the world's newest country for another year as expected, the government said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and several members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday shrugged off the United Nations-backed East Timorese court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto after charging him with crimes against humanity.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – A United Nations-funded court in East Timor has issued an arrest warrant for the Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto, beginning a process that could see the former military commander arrested if he leaves the country.

Andrew Burrell, Manila – A United Nations-backed tribunal yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Indonesia's former military chief Wiranto, in a move that could become a wildcard issue in next month's presidential election campaign.

Indonesian's ex-military chief Wiranto has formally announced his presidential candidacy whilst dismissing an arrest warrant issued against him by an East Timor judge as "character assassination." "There are several pieces of information that are behind these charges, there clearly is an involvement of political activities in this country," Wiranto told reporters.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – A UN tribunal issued an arrest warrant yesterday against Indonesia's former military commander General Wiranto for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in East Timor five years ago.

Sydney – An Australian journalist has been arrested in East Timor, accused of subversion and threatened with expulsion, an international press freedom organization said Tuesday.

The claim by the group Reporters Without Borders came just a week after the Paris-based group lauded the fledgling nation for having one of Asia's freest presses.

East Timor's Prosecutor General has filed a court motion for a "revision" of the case against Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto, a day after a UN-backed court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Indonesian presidential candidate, former armed forces chief Wiranto continues to attract controversy. United Nations prosecutors in East Timor have issued an arrest warrant against General Wiranto for alleged crimes against humanity.

Four Corners investigates the increasingly rancorous fight between Australia and East Timor over the multi-billion dollar oil and gas bonanza that lies beneath the waters dividing them.

Mark Colvin: Indonesia's former military commander in chief, General Wiranto, is a man of shifting fortunes. Just a few weeks ago, he tasted his first ballot box victory, storming to the presidential nomination for the Golkar Party, formerly led by President Suharto.

Mark Colvin: It's unlikely that Indonesian authorities will act on the arrest warrant against General Wiranto. They've already failed to act on similar warrants in hundreds of other cases.

The Deputy Prosecutor for Serious Crimes in Dili, Nicholas Koumjian, outlined the case against Wiranto to Anne Barker.

East Timor's existence is under threat because of Australia's claims over the poor nation's natural resources, President Xanana Gusmao claims.

Daniel Dasey – A Sydney man accused by East Timor's Prime Minister of being a subversive has denied any wrongdoing, saying he is the subject of a political vendetta.

Journalist and PhD student Julian King, who has lived in East Timor for four years, was arrested in Dili on Thursday and was being held in the city's police station yesterday afternoon.

Deborah Snow – The then head of the Defence Department, Paul Barratt, was angry and perplexed in late December 1998. He had just learned of Prime Minister John Howard's letter to the Indonesian President, B.J.Habibie, suggesting he grant autonomy to East Timor in advance of an eventual act of self-determination.

Jakarta – The US-based Human Rights Watch on Saturday urged East Timor's parliament to exclude serious human rights crimes from a general amnesty law now under consideration that proposes to pardon culprits in the country's 1999 bloodbath.

East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said that an Australian activist and freelance journalist ordered expelled from the country a day earlier had participated in the looting of his home in 2002.

Rochelle Mutton – The worm-ridden body of a 12-year-old girl, who was suffocated by hundreds of the parasites, has alerted authorities to the spectre of worm infestations in East Timor.

Like thousands of other East Timorese children, the girl could have escaped death with the help of a 10-cent tablet.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Two former generals both have a strong chance of becoming the nation's new leader, even if they have blood on their hands. The rise of these generals-turned-party-leaders, however, rests on the shaky assumption that military leaders are more capable of providing stability than civilian leaders.

The newly ordained bishop of Dili, Alberto Ricardo da Silva, has promised to work for reconciliation between East Timorese living in and outside of the country.

Dili – The East Timorese parliament narrowly approved Wednesday a controversial general amnesty for all crimes committed up to March 31, including the so-called "serious crimes" carried out by anti-independence militias and Indonesian troops in 1999. The bill, presented by Justice Minister Domingos Sarmento, passed in generality by 24 votes to 18 with 14 abstentions.

Jason Koutsoukis, Canberra – Prime Minister John Howard may face further pressure to call a royal commission on Australia's intelligence services following new claims that the Defence Department for six weeks ignored warnings that a spy was operating in the army with impunity.

A reduced number of Australian troops and police are set to stay in East Timor after United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today proposed that the UN extend its mission in the fledgling nation for another year.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed Mr Annan's call for a one-year extension of the UN mandate in East Timor.

Dili – Just two years after gaining independence, East Timor has one of Asia's freest presses, an international watchdog group said.

Lisbon – East Timor's Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who was awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, has ruled out running for president in 2007.

"I have decided to leave politics to politicians," he said today in comments broadcast on Portuguese state television RTP.

Toni Somes – It is an arduous task being "mother of the nation" when you are also the mother of two small boys, but Kirsty Sword Gusmao has never been one to sidestep challenges.

But East Timor's first lady did admit to being slightly weary in Charters Towers yesterday.

The language in the border negotiations between Australia and East Timor is heating up. East Timor says Australia is trying to steal its oil reserves while Canberra responds that Dili is trying to stir up emotion to create controversy. The latest idea from East Timor is a call for a third country or neutral umpire to step in to the border negotiations.

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao says his country will cooperate with former general Wiranto, indicted for crimes against humanity in the territory, if he was elected Indonesian president.

"We will support anyone who is elected democratically in the July presidential election [in Indonesia], including Wiranto," Gusmao told a news conference.

Tom Allard – Defence Intelligence Organisation chief Frank Lewincamp ordered that a crucial flow of intelligence to Australian troops during the East Timor conflict remain shut down, in an extraordinary act that came amid a major row among Defence spies.

Brendan Nicholson – Prime Minister John Howard has rejected the calls of army intelligence analyst Lieutenant-Colonel Lance Collins for a royal commission into Australia's intelligence agencies.

Mr Howard dismissed Colonel Collins's claims that there were serious systemic failures in the military intelligence agencies.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military is investigating reports that pro-Jakarta militiamen are stockpiling weapons along the border between East and West Timor, an officer said Saturday.

"We don't know how many are stashed. We suspect that the weapons were from past unrest," said Indonesian Army Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, who is in charge of security in the region.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – A joint military and police force in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are keeping a watch on pro-Indonesia militiamen suspected of attempting to create chaos in neighboring East Timor.

The militia are hoarding thousands of firearms, grenades and ammunition in NTT territory bordering East Timor, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said on Friday.

David Jardine – In the commentary Wiranto must face the storm by Pitan Daslani (The Jakarta Post, April, 26) there appears a truly astonishing paragraph, "Everybody put the blame on Wiranto as well as the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police, despite their self-sacrificing devotion to the conception of the Republic of Timor Leste."

Dili – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri launched a public debate Friday on proposed legislation to facilitate and promote private investment by East Timorese entrepreneurs.

In presenting the draft bill at a Dili conference, Alkatiri said it currently cost 30 percent more to set up a new business in East Timor than in neighboring countries.