Mataram – The Indonesian military will deploy soldiers to Batek Island in neighboring East Nusa Tenggara province, which borders East Timor, a senior officer said on Monday.
"So far we have not stationed any soldiers on the island because there have been no serious threats," Udayana Military Commander, Maj. Gen. Supiadin AS, said.
Atambua – Illegal border crossing into Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province from East Timor is something hard to control, a local military official said.
"Illegal border crossing is something hard to prevent or control because many of the border-crossers take narrow paths and do so at night," chief of the Security Border Task Force, Col Djoko Setiono said here Friday.
Dili – Production has begun at an offshore gasfield which is expected to earn impoverished East Timor more than $US100 million a year, a government statement said.
The Timor Sea Office said operator ConocoPhillips confirmed a regular flow of "wet gas" from the wells of the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea.
John Roberts – Long-running disagreements between Australia and East Timor over their maritime border and therefore control of Timor Sea oil and gas erupted again late last year, focusing on revenues from the Laminaria-Corallina fields.
Australia – East Timor's neighboring nation, which East Timor has known since the Second World War, the Australian political position during the Indonesian invasion is still in East Timor's memory, finally Australia's most recent clear position in leading InterFET to quickly enter East Timor, in order to have a successful international force in East Timor.
Thalif Deen, New York – The United Nations plans to withdraw its 3,500 peacekeepers from East Timor in May, despite calls from the government in Dili and civil-society groups that the body's work in the world's newest country is not finished.
Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto, has agreed to testify to a public hearing of war crimes charges against him, relating to post-independence violence in East Timor in 1999. The presidential candidate is among a group of people indicted by the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in February last year.
Presenter/Interviewer: Linda LoPresti
An East Timor court has jailed a former pro-Jakarta militiaman for seven years for murdering an independence supporter during the territory's bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.
Indonesian presidential candidate General Wiranto has agreed to testify to a public hearing of war crimes charges against him, East Timor's chief prosecutor said.
Dili – The UN Security Council will "probably" opt for a continued civilian and security presence in East Timor following the end of its current UNMISET mission in May, Foreign Minister Josi Ramos Horta said Friday.
Melbourne coffee roaster Wells Trenfield is the second-last person in a global coffee chain. Before him are the brokers, importers, exporters, processors and, at the head of the chain, the growers. After everyone has taken their cut, growers may receive about 16 cents a kilogram for their freshly harvested coffee cherries.
Radio Australia – The United Nations has announced it may maintain a presence in East Timor beyond the end of its peacekeeping mandate on May 20. The announcement comes amid concerns that East Timor's troubled border with Indonesia still poses a major threat to future political stability.
Presenter/Interviewer: James Panichi
A political dissident in East Timor says he is preparing to challenge the government when the United Nations mission to the country ends on May 20.
Brussels – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan assured East Timor Thursday that the UN would likely maintain a presence in the country after the end in May of its current security and aid mission.
The military chief in Indonesian West Timor has promised that members of an opposition group in neighbouring East Timor, an independent state, will be barred from crossing the border into West Timor.
Kupang – Wirasakti military commander Col. Moeswarno Moesanif accused an East Timor opposition group on Tuesday of infiltrating the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara to invite former militiamen to create chaos in the new country.
Jill Jolliffe, Bobonaro – As the world's youngest nation battles to repress rebel groups, the harshness of the crackdown risks provoking the very instability the government seeks to prevent, critics charge.
Honolulu – Although East Timor leaders know that building a constructive relationship with Indonesia is essential for a more secure future, the new nation's first lady said this poses a dilemma for a country badly scarred by violence under Indonesian rule.
Atambua – The people living in border areas shared by Indonesia's province of East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor did not care about the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF)'s plan to withdraw its troops from East Timor in May.
Jill Jolliffe, Bobonaro – There is a palpable fear in the town of Bobonaro, which sits on the Timorese side of the border with Indonesia.
It is not apprehension at the possibility of invasion, but rather a brewing conflict between the Timorese authorities and a band of locals set on creating their own field of influence.
Jakarta – East Timor's top prosecutor says he will ask an appeals court for help in securing arrest warrants for Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto and five other senior Indonesian army officers indicted for crimes against humanity.
Jakarta – A senior Indonesian army officer denied Wednesday that Jakarta had any "concrete plans" to station security forces on an islet disputed with East Timor, but reaffirmed Indonesia's claim to it.
The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) today urged the United Nations and United States to strongly condemn Indonesia's use of military force in a territorial dispute with East Timor. ETAN called on Indonesia to negotiate claims through normal diplomatic channels according to international law. Indonesia recently bombed a small contested island to establish its claim.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it will soon deploy troops to the disputed island of Batek, which is close to East Nusa Tenggara province and East Timor.
A UN assessment team returns to New York this week from East Timor amid speculation there may be an extension of its presence there.
Sian Powell – A delegation of senior Australian diplomats last week toured an Indonesian region considered by the UN to be more dangerous than Baghdad.
Australian deputy ambassador in Indonesia Peter Rowe and several other diplomats made an official visit to West Timor, an impoverished half-island in eastern Indonesia.
Sophie Boudre – As violence against women is recognized as a major health concern worldwide, Timor-Leste is struggling to overcome domestic violence, which has been growing at an alarming rate. While the tiny new independent country is recovering from the wounds of a long fight for freedom, 51 percent of married East-Timorese women say they feel unsafe in their relationship.
Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – Thousands of former East Timorese refugees have been given homes of their own in Indonesian West Timor after more than four years of living in decrepit refugee camps and other temporary accommodation.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A headless skeleton discovered by workmen digging in the yard of East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is believed to be the remains of Nicolau Lobato, the charismatic resistance leader killed by the Indonesian army in 1978.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara A senior Navy officer denied on Friday that a military exercise, held recently on Batek island that borders East Timor, was a display of military might aimed at instilling fear in the neighboring country.
Kupang – The struggle of factions in East Timor to grab power in the government and political elite are viewed as having made the pro-integration group as the scapegoat.
Australia and East Timor are set to begin tough negotiations over marine boundaries this year, although Australia has refused to set a deadline. East Timor is contesting the boundaries set under a 1972 agreement between Australia and Indonesia, when East Timor was ruled by Portugal.
Atambua – Indonesian immigration officers in Mota'ain, a town on the Indonesia-East Timor border, on Friday turned away a group of UN lawyers who intended to visit Atambua because the latter lacked the necessary visa.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – A senior Indonesian Military (TNI) commander in Kupang denied on Thursday recent reports in several local media that 78 armed pro-Indonesia militiamen have infiltrated Timor Leste (formerly East Timor) and were ready to stir up chaos there after UN troops have pulled out of the neighboring country in May.
Dili – Foreign Minister Josi Ramos Horta said Thursday he was "convinced" the United Nations would extend its engagement with East Timor beyond the end of its current mission.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Pessure has been placed on the relevant authorities to investigate alleged irregularities in the use of Rp 53 billion (US$6.3 million) in aid for East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province.
Jakarta – East Timor has expressed concern after Indonesian troops fired on an uninhabited island whose ownership has not yet been determined, a senior East Timor foreign ministry official said.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's chief prosecutor has accused the United Nations of blocking an arrest warrant for war crimes against Indonesia's General Wiranto, a frontrunner for presidential elections in July.
"There are no legal obstacles, only political obstacles, both in Indonesia and East Timor," Longuinhos Monteiro said.
Indonesia's highest court has confirmed the acquittal of a senior policeman accused of human rights abuses in the last days of Indonesian rule over East Timor. The decision clears the way for the inspector to take up another controversial appointment.
Mark Dodd and Ian McPhedran – In a dramatic show of military muscle, an Indonesian warship has blasted a contested island near East Timor with gunfire and a missile just weeks after peacekeepers left the area.
By May, the last United Nations troops stationed in East Timor are due to hand over responsibility for security to the local army and police.
Dili – East Timor called on the United Nations Monday to extend its mandate in the country as the leader of a UN team arrived to assess whether the tiny nation was strong enough to go it alone.
Gerard McManus – Don't run over the chooks or goats ... that's unofficial rule No. 1 in the Australian Defence Co-operation Group's manual for troops operating in the villages and remote mountainous regions of East Timor.
The directive has an obvious practical purpose in an economy that still mostly operates at near-subsistence levels.
Atambua – The Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) is mulling the reopening of traditional markets on the Indonesian-East Timor border, a local military official said.
East Nusatenggara Military Commander Col Moeswarno Moesanip said here Saturday the markets were closed down after an incident in which a former East Timorese refugee, Vegas Biliatu, was shot dead last October 19.
Australia has made a huge investment in East Timor for which the nation can be proud, but now is not the time to give up on it. From a position just years ago where Indonesian-sponsored militia were shooting and hacking to death supporters of independence, East Timor now has a semblance of order as a free state.
Allesandra Fabro – The sustainability of Australian aid activities in East Timor is at risk despite the significant contribution made by bilateral aid programs, an Audit Office report has found.
The report assesses AusAID's planning and management of aid programs to East Timor, which has continued since the independence ballot in 1999.
Hundreds of people have marked the death of the East Timor independence activist Andrew McNaughtan at a memorial service in the Australian city of Sydney.
Dr McNaughtan was the convenor of the Australia East Timor Association in New South Wales. He died in Sydney on December 22, aged 49.
Patrick Walters – From the rocky, tree-shaded summit of "Mount Everest", 1980m up in the cool, moist highlands of the Bobinaro ranges in East Timor, Lieutenant-Colonel Glen Babington surveys his domain.
[Obituary - Dr Andrew Ian, McNaughtan, campaigner for East Timorese Independence, 21-2-1953 – 22-12-2003.]
John Martinkus – Dr Andrew McNaughtan, who has died in Sydney, was an outstanding human rights activist who devoted himself to changing the situation in East Timor throughout the 1990s and to improve the lives of ordinary East Timorese living under theIndonesians.