Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday signalled Australia would dismiss any proposals from newly independent East Timor to radically change seabed boundaries because it would risk unravelling thousands of kilometres of boundaries that have already been settled with Indonesia.

HT Lee – When Howard claimed Australia is generous by giving East Timor a 90% share of the royalties – what he forgot to mention is that it is only for one of the three oil and gas fields off the Timor Sea – Bayu-Undan.

Jennifer Wells – On the news a few evenings back, CBC correspondent Patrick Brown contextualized the birth of the new nation of East Timor by emphasizing how small it is. With a population of just 800,000 souls, Brown made the point that the former Indonesian-occupied east end of an island is no bigger, people-wise, than Winnipeg.

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – Like most lawmakers in Indonesia's Parliament, Natercia Do Menino Jesus Osoria Soares insists she is the voice of her people. The only problem is that the people live in another country.

Four Indonesian parliamentarians are hanging on to their positions despite their East Timorese electorate having broken away from the republic nearly three years ago.

Amid calls to give up their seats, the MPs insist they are representing the interests of the Timorese remaining in Indonesia.

Michael Richardson, Uotolari – Paradoxically, the neat figure of the Reverend Damianus Wagur seated behind a school desk in his office epitomizes the complexity of East Timor's recent history. Wagur, a missionary teacher from Flores, a predominantly Christian island of Indonesia, directs the senior high school in this town about 250 kilometers southeast of Dili.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says disaffected members of East Timor's guerilla group Falintil are forming into armed groups and pose a serious threat to security in the new nation.

At the Northern Territory University in Darwin, the Institute's Elsina Wainwright has released a study on security and defence issues relating to the new nation.

Jonathan Steele – It's a hard world to be born into, even for nation-states. This week East Timor, half of a small island a few hundred miles north of Australia, became the youngest member of the so-called international community.

The head of East Timor's Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, has said that the Dili correspondent of the Portuguese Lusa news agency "should be withdrawn from East Timor" for having written an article on church power in the new country which was "full of insults and lack of education".

Reacting Thursday to calls from East Timor's religious leader for the expulsion of a Portuguese correspondent from Dili, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said there will be freedom of the press in the new nation.

Edith M. Lederer, United Nations – Acting with unusual speed, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday recommending that the 189-nation General Assembly admit East Timor as a new member.

Aaron Goodman, Dili – The unfurling of East Timor's flag and the lighting of fireworks on Sunday marked the formal coming out of the newest country of the millennium, one whose test of nationhood will be under way for many years to come.

Jon Land – As the official festivities wind down in East Timor following the May 20 independence celebrations and the international dignitaries fly back to their comfortable and privileged lifestyles, a beckoning question for most East Timorese remains, what does independence hold?

Lincoln Wright – To avoid provoking Indonesia, Australia should pull its 1450 troops out of East Timor after the United Nations leaves in 2004, according to a new defence report.

But the Howard Government should help upgrade East Timor's police force to improve security.

Vaudine England – Indonesian media greeted the birth of an independent East Timor with congratulations and the stated desire for better ties. But behind the positive rhetoric remains a Government and armed forces determined to avoid responsibility for past abuses in the new nation.

Tom Hyland, Dili – On its first day as an independent nation, East Timor yesterday warned Australia of a tough fight ahead for a greater share of Timor Sea oil and gas revenue, even as the two sides signed a treaty to exploit resources in the energy-rich seabed area.

Joseph Fitchete, Lisbon – Bill Clinton presumably didn't notice any problems during East Timor's independence celebrations last week. After nearly two days' flying time to the Pacific as the Bush administration's representative, Clinton spent only a few hours in Dili, the new capital.

Jakarta – East Nusa Tenggara Military district chief Col. Moeswarno Moesanip consoled some 30,000 pro-integration East Timorese refugees who were politically estranged in West Timor following East Timor's independence on Monday, saying all sides, including the military must accept the reality.

Lyall Johnson – As East Timor celebrated its nationhood yesterday, 1600 East Timorese asylum seekers living in Australia faced an anxious wait to see if they could remain in the country many have called home for more than a decade.

Aboeprijadi Santoso and Yemris Fointuna, Dili/Kupang – Despite reconciliatory gestures from their leaders, the future of ties between Indonesia and its new neighbor East Timor hangs in the balance due to a legacy of wide-ranging unfinished business.

Dili – Australian soldiers marred East Timor's independence day by stealing flags from outside a Dili hotel, an Australian businessman claimed.

Hotel Dili manager Gino Favaro also accused the six soldiers of threatening a local security guard with a rifle butt.

Dean Yates, Dili – About the only thing pro-Jakarta militias didn't destroy in their rampage after East Timor voted in 1999 to break free was something they couldn't touch – the territory's stunning natural beauty.

Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement armed wing (AGAM) joined the worldwide chorus of congratulations for the people of East Timor on their independence and the inauguration of Xanana Gusmao as the country's first president.

East Timor hailed its move to democracy May 20 by signing the Timor Gap Treaty with Australia just hours after becoming the world's newest independent state. However, the signing of the treaty was more an empty symbol of goodwill than a declaration of cooperation between the two on developing the Timor Sea's vast natural resources.

Jakarta – Vice President Hamzah Haz expressed on Monday his sympathy over the Seroja fighters' frustration at President Megawati Soekarnoputri's visit to East Timor, but reminded the nation to move forward and to not only look at the past, reportssaid.

Ben Terrall, Oakland, California – East Timor will celebrate its independence today after throwing off a 24-year Indonesian military occupation that killed 200,000 East Timorese.

Tributes

"If 92 countries are gathered here today it is because the settlement of the question of East Timor was the responsibility of the international community.

As the East Timorese celebrated their hard-won independence overnight, spare a thought for the Jakarta lobby in Australia, including luminaries such as Dick Woolcott, Gough Whitlam, Gareth Evans and Paul Keating, to name only a few. How must they feel?

These men have dedicated much of their professional lives to opposing just such an event.

Ben Terrall – As the world's newest nation looks forward, the US must look back at its complicity in East Timor's bloody past. Recently declassified documents reveal that the United States gave a "green light" to Indonesian dictator Suharto before his invasion of East Timor. It's no time, writes PNS contributor Ben Terrall, to renew military aid to Indonesia.

[East Timor has claimed its independence. How is the new nation viewed by its imposing neighbour, Indonesia? Tony Eastley speaks with Wimar Witoelar, who was spokesman for Indonesia's former president Abdurrahmin Wahid, and who is now a visiting professor of journalism at Deakin University, in Victoria. Compere: Tony Eastley Reporter: Tony Eastley.]

Dili – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri was greeted by 50 silent protesters shortly after she arrived in East Timor late on Sunday to attend independence events for a territory Jakarta once ruled with an iron fist.

Harald Bruning, Macau – East Timor's constitution, which came into force at midnight last night, is a combination of civil guarantees, national fervour and provisions for social welfare and public ownership of the half-island's natural resources.

[It's the world's newest republic, but it will take a long time for old sores to heal. Lindsay Murdoch and Tom Hyland explain why guilty parties on both sides will get off scot-free.]

Dili – East Timor formally swore in its cabinet on Monday, hours after the tiny territory became independent and new President Xanana Gusmao took office.

Tom Hyland, Dili – Prime Minister John Howard has rejected suggestions that Australia has treated East Timor unfairly in negotiations over the carve-up of rich oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Dili – On their first day of East Timor's independence, leaders of the new country raised the prospect of taking Australia to court to gain a greater share of the rights to resources in the waters dividing the two countries.

Yemris Fointuna, Atambua – As East Timorese proclaimed their hard-fought independence at midnight on May 19 and changed the name of their country to Timor Lorosae, some 30,000 refugees originally hailing from the new country opted to remain in Indonesia.

Don Greenlees, Dili – Soon after sundown in a football field here, Domingos Ribero's gaze fixes on the screen of a makeshift outdoor cinema. Images from East Timor's violent past unfold before him, captivating a large audience who have been exposed to little of their own history.

Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor became an independent nation early this morning but a row over the unauthorised arrival of Indonesian warships highlighted the potential fragility of its hard-won freedom.

Michael Casey, Liquica – Marie Fernanda remembered hearing the voices of the approaching attackers as her family was fixing dinner three years ago.

An Australian with one of the closest associations with East Timor, former diplomat James Dunn, has concerns about East Timor's future as an independent country.

Philip Sherwell – East Timor has not known a weekend like it. The flags of the world fluttered above Dili yesterday as workmen gave a final spruce-up to the down-at-heel waterfront capital before the arrival of dignitories from nearly 100 countries, including Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General, for tonight's independence celebrations.

Simba – Today on the eve of the independence ceremonies for East Timor many of the international delegates arrived to address the press. At one press conference was the Australian president (sic) John Howard who was greeted by members of the International Solidarity Movement of West Papua and Aceh.

Audrey Young – At midnight on Sunday in East Timor, a greying former fighter with the rhythmic name of the newest sovereign nation of the century, East Timor.

In the shadows, sharing his emotional moment, will be his younger Australian wife, 36-year-old Kirsty Sword, pregnant with their second child.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Indonesia to pursue the trials of officers accused of gross human rights abuses in East Timor effectively and credibly.

Jakarta – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Saturday downplayed the likelihood that an international tribunal would be established to try those responsible for violence that swept East Timor after it voted for independence in 1999.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – East Timor's secession in 1999 has still left bitter pains for many Indonesians, particularly veterans who fought for its integration with Indonesia 27 years ago.

They lashed out at President Megawati Soekarnoputri's decision to visit East Timor to attend the former Indonesian province's independence declaration at midnight on Sunday.

Mark Forbes – Australia and East Timor have reached agreement over exploiting the rich oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap, with Prime Minister John Howard to sign a treaty at independence celebrations in Dili next week.

Jill Jolliffe – When Fretilin leaders first declared East Timor independent in Dili in 1975 few took much notice of Jose Alexandre Gusmao. But at midnight tomorrow the man who is now known simply as Xanana to many will become president of the new nation.

East Timor's first cabinet was sworn in on December 1, 1975, just six days before Indonesia invaded.

An air of optimism buoys East Timor as it prepares to celebrate nationhood. But there are dark clouds on the horizon, Tom Hyland and Lindsay Murdoch report.