Larissa Dubecki – The State Government will give financial aid to about 1600 East Timorese refugees in Australia fighting to gain permanent residency status.

A $50,000 grant, announced yesterday, will help pay for their legal costs.

Australia promised East Timor millions of dollars in a secret aid deal that convinced the world's newest nation to give up claims to a huge undersea gas field, a newspaper reported.

Rick Kelly – The long standing plan of the Australian government to maintain control of East Timor's oil and gas reserves reached its dinouement late last week, as the East Timorese approved the International Unitisation Agreement (IUA) after a systematic campaign of threats and intimidation from Australia.

Tim Colebatch – They fooled me. Perhaps they fooled you, too. These days the spin doctors are everywhere, and they know how to pull the wool over our eyes.

Dili – The East Timorese government defended today the imposition of restraints on the activities of foreigners in Timor-Leste and rejected suggestions of that the proposed law about immigration and asylum presented to the National Parliament violates international rights.

Aboeprijadi Santoso – Instead of expressing regret over Dili's indictment of Indonesian generals (as East Timor President Xanana Gusmao did) or flatly rejecting it (as Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and President Megawati Soekarnoputri hastily did), Jakarta and Dili would do well to review their policies and consider the long-term implications of the issue.

Kalinga Seneviratne, Sydney – The Australian government is denying claims that it bullied the world's newest country, and one of its poorest – East Timor – to grab a large slice of a US$48 billion gas and oil deal signed between the two countries on Thursday.

Richard Woolcott – John Howard may regard intervention in East Timor as Australia's "most positive and noble act" in 20 years, but our most senior former diplomat sees only needless damage to relations with Indonesia and unnecessary suffering for the East Timorese.

Mark Phillips – Australian troops in East Timor have broken up an organised crime gang after a gun battle that left a gangster dead and another fighting for his life.

It was the first live fire incident involving Australian troops in East Timor for almost two years.

Prime Minister John Howard denied yesterday bullying East Timor over a lucrative gas project as Parliament passed the crucial Timor Sea Treaty.

The laws, rushed through on the last sitting day before a March 11 deadline to ratify the treaty, underpinned the $3 billion Bayu-Undan gas development in the seabed shared between Australia and the fledgling nation.

Steve Lewis and Nigel Wilson – Relations between Australia and East Timor have deteriorated even as they signed a breakthrough agreement yesterday paving the way for billions of dollars in shared revenue.

Mark Baker – East Timor has bowed to intense political pressure from Australia and will today rush through the signing of an agreement to clear the way for joint development of the vast oil and gas reserves of the Timor Sea.

Cynthia Banham – The Howard Government is facing dissent from its backbenches over a decision to deport more than 1000 East Timorese refugees.

Mark Baker, Singapore and Mark Riley, Canberra – East Timor has bowed to intense political pressure from Australia and will today rush through the signing of an agreement to clear the way for joint development of the vast oil and gas reserves of the Timor Sea.

The formal indictment of Indonesia's former armed forces chief, retired General Wiranto, and seven of his senior military officers for war crimes in East Timor is no watershed in the quest for justice in the former Indonesian-controlled territory.

Jakarta – A top Indonesian Cabinet minister warned East Timor not to press ahead with the prosecutions of several Indonesian generals for alleged crimes committed during the former province's independence drive in 1999.

Chris McCall, Laivai – L7 is disgusted with East Timor's government. Its leaders ran away from war to save their skins, he said, and are now back to squabble over the spoils of independence.

"They went away and they did nothing for this country," he said. "In the end Falintil struggled on its own. In the end Timor was independent."

Kurniawan Hari and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The recent indictment of several Indonesian military officers in East Timor shows that the international community has no trust in either the ongoing human rights trial or the country's judiciary, a noted rights activist says.

The Australian Parliament is expected to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty this week, ensuring a 20-billion dollar contract for natural gas can go ahead. East Timor ratified the Treaty in December and has been nervously waiting for its bigger neighbour to do the same before a crucial March 11 deadline.

Washington – A US rights group has urged Washington and the United Nations to press Jakarta to colaborate with East Timor in trying Indonesian officials accused of crimes against humanity in the formerly occupied territory and called for the creation of an international criminal court.

United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan has recommended to the Security Council to slow the withdrawal of UN troops from East Timor. Citing the frequency of security-related incidents over the last three months, Mr Annan said there was a need to readjust the downsizing plan.

Presenter/Interviewer: Kanaha Sabapathy

Dili – East Timor on Wednesday created a new post of vice-prime minister in a bid to boost government efficiency in the world's newest nation.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri appointed Justice Minister Ana Pesoa to the new post. Pesoa, of the ruling Fretilin party, is to be replaced at the Justice Ministry by her deputy, Domingos Sarmento, the prime minister said.

Kate Stockdale, Darwin – Local community organisations, politicians and activists – meeting regularly as the Refugee Action Network (RAN) – are campaigning to allow all 1800 East Timorese asylum seekers to stay in Australia.

Nigel Wilson – Last-minute negotiations are taking place on arrangements between Australia and East Timor that could result in legislation implementing the Timor Sea Treaty being introduced into Parliament either today or tomorrow.

Reverend David Pargeter – In 1990 a large regional military power, Iraq, invaded a small neighbour, Kuwait, after accusing it of stealing oil from an oilfield straddling their common border. Both major political parties in Australia supported military intervention to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Max Lane – The article by Jose Ramos Horta defending the "aggressive strategy" of the US administration of George W Bush towards Iraq is not a surprise. Horta's approach to diplomacy throughout the struggle for East Timor's independence was always based on offering assurances to Washington that an independent East Timor would be friendly towards US interests.

Jakarta – The East Timor government on Monday sought to distance itself from indictments issued against a former Indonesian armed forces chief over violence that ravaged the tiny territory in 1999.

Dili – Sitting by the road on the Dili waterfront, Jose Belo Pereira ekes out a living selling coconuts to passers-by. His two-dollar-a-day profit is not exactly what he hoped for under independence.

Larry Schwartz – The boys have been asking their father why they must leave family and friends in suburban Melbourne and go to another country.

Kium Kit Lim says: "They ask me, "Why must we go to East Timor? Why can't we stay here?" I say it's because we came here late. The little one says, "I'm an Aussie. You go back. I'll stay here."

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao voiced disappointment over the court's issuance of dozens of indictments of senior Indonesian officials for serious crimes committed in the territory in 1999, fearing that it could undermine ongoing reconciliation between the two countries.

Dili – Timor Leste prosecutors charged more than 50 people, including a former police chief and a militia boss, with crimes against humanity yesterday over violence surrounding a 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia.

The drought may be finally breaking in Australia, but in East Timor continuing drought is causing severe problems. A number of children have already died and the current weather conditions are hampering the recovery effort in several parts of the country.

Transcript:

Mark Baker, Singapore – East Timor has warned that hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues vital for the country's development could be lost because of the Australian Government's refusal to ratify a treaty on joint development of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Dili – East Timor prosecutors charged more than 50 people on Friday, including a former police chief and a militia boss, with crimes against humanity over violence surrounding a 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia.

Mark Dodd, Dili – In the laboratory of Cafi Cooperative Timor (CCT), senior adviser Alistair Laird, a "cupping" expert, is applying a final quality-control test to assess the fragrance, aroma and taste of a range of samples of East Timor's finest organic certified arabica coffee beans.

Nug Katjasungkana, Contributor, Dili – On Tuesday, the Dili-based Office of the Prosecutor General of Timor Leste issued an indictment of former military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto and six other officers who served in East Timor, as well as former governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares, of crimes against humanity.

The failure of Indonesia's rights tribunal to bow to international demands for the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses in East Timor has prompted the indictment of several high-ranking officers, including former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, observers said.

The international rights group Human Rights Watch called on Indonesia to turn over for trial its officials accused of organizing atrocities committed in East Timor in 1999.

In a statement released here, Human Rights Watch urged Jakarta to extradite the officials for trial in the East Timor capital Dili.

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin and Tom Allard, Canberra – United Nations prosecutors have charged the former Indonesian defence chief General Wiranto with crimes against humanity for his role in the violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 referendum on independence.

Five other officers have also been accused, along with ex-governor Abilio Osorio Soares.

The United Nations Serious Crimes Unit has indicted General Wiranto, the former governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares and six other senior military officers, for murder and persecution in the lead-up to East Timor's independence in 1999. But with the Indonesian Government unlikely to hand any of the men over for trial, will justice ever be done?

Jakarta – Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Tuesday Indonesia would ignore UN indictments of former armed forces chief Gen.(ret) Wiranto along with six other generals for crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody independence vote in 1999, AP reported.

"He is a free man ... Why take action?" Hassan said on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jakarta – The United Nations on Tuesday indictedthe former armed forces chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, along with six other senior generals and East Timor's ex-governor for crimes againsthumanity during the territory's bloody independence vote in 1999, AP reported.

Dili – Some 200 East Timorese staged a rally in the new nation's capital Dili on Tuesday to demand compensation for their past services to former ruler Indonesia.

Yemris Fointuna and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur – The military commander overseeing the West Timor province promised tighter security along its border with East Timor where one person died on Monday in an attack allegedly staged by pro Jakarta militia who crossed the border to West Timor.

Dili – East Timorese officials blamed anti-independence militias Tuesday for an attack that killed two people, injured four and heightened security fears in the world's newest nation.

A man aged 29 was killed on the spot in Monday's attack in the Maliana district bordering Indonesian West Timor. A 64-year-old man died in hospital Tuesday, his relatives said.

Dili – Unidentified gunmen killed one person and seriously injured two pregnant women in an attack Monday on a minibus in East Timor, officials said.

The group fled after the attack at 12:45 pm near the village of Aidabaleten in Maliana district, said Deputy Defence and Security Minister Roque Rodrigues. He gave no further details.

Shepard Forman, New York – Even as the United Nations focuses like a laser on Iraq, it must not lose sight of its other commitments.

Dili – Anti-independence militias have launched a "terrorist strategy" to undermine Timor Leste's government before the planned United Nations withdrawal from the country next year, a top UN peacekeeper said.

Kuala Lumpur – Saying the US government deserves more credit for its Iraq policy, East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta on Saturday criticized what he called "illogical anti-Americanism" fueled by fears of a US-led attack on Baghdad.

East Timor's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, in New Zealand this week on a private visit, once had 10 brothers and sisters. Now he has six. Four died in the violent and suppressive regime which ruled East Timor for 25 years. Ian Stuart of NZPA reports.