East Timorese judges responsible trying crimes against humanity have launched a boycott of court proceedings over a contractual dispute with the UN transition administration, judicial sources told Lusa Wednesday.

Dili – In a final step toward nationhood, East Timor will hold its first presidential election on April 14, the territory's UN administrator announced Thursday.

United Nations – Rejecting "implicit suggestions of racism," the United Nations on Friday denied an accusation made by one of its officials that the peacekeeping mission in East Timor was dominated by white Westerners.

The charge was made by N. Parameswaran, a Malaysian who resigned this week as chief of staff of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

East Timor's religious leader, Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, called Friday for the holding of legislative elections for the first post-independence Timorese parliament, instead of the planned transition of the Constituent Assembly into this body.

Lisbon is negotiating with the United Nations over the possibility of taking over command of the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, it was announced Friday by Portuguese Defense Minister Rui Pena.

Dili – The Constituent Assembly today passed a further four articles of East Timor's 151-article draft Constitution. The articles, all passed by significant majorities, are the following:

Cheah Chor Sooi, Koh Lay Chin and Shamini Darshni, Kuala Lumpur – Prominent personalities today came out in support of Datuk N. Parameswaran's decision to quit as chief of staff of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor over racism in the international body.

Vaudine England – The chief of staff for the United Nations mission in East Timor has resigned, citing management failures and racism as reasons for his departure.

When Nagalingam Parameswaran leaves the capital, Dili, this week there will be no senior manager at the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (Untaet) from a Southeast Asian country.

East Timor's General Prosecutor has issued more than 30 indictments in cases involving major incidents of mass killings and forced deportation, according to the latest figures released by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

Dili – The Constituent Assembly today passed a further seven articles of East Timor's 151-article draft Constitution. The articles were all passed with significant majorities and include the following:

A former leading anti-idependence militia leader has canceled his planned return to East Timor. Cancio Lopes de Carvalho told the UN transition administration Monday he had canceled the trip for "technical reasons".

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Three East Timorese men killed in an armed raid on their villages on Saturday night were former independence activists. Senior East Timorese officials believe that the attackers were once linked to the pro-Indonesian militia.

Dili – The Constituent Assembly today passed a further five articles of East Timor's draft Constitution relating to the functions of the Council of State and of the National Parliament. All the articles were passed by significant majorities.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – With the militia leader Eurico Guterres due to be charged with crimes against humanity next week, United Nations officials in East Timor are hopeful that 2002 may represent a new phase in the prosecution of human rights violators.

The Constituent Assembly today returned from a three-day New Year's break to continue debate on East Timor's first draft Constitution, passing five articles contained in the section on the status, election and appointment of the President of the Republic.

The assembly has now passed 79 of the Constitution's 151 articles.

Jakarta – The safety of refugees is still guaranteed: Even though the government has abolished refugee status for the refugees from East Timor with effect from 31 December 2001, Commander IX/Udayana Military Area Command Maj-Gen Willem da Costa, stated that he would still guarantee their safety.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military said Thursday it would cooperate with a special human rights court set up to try top commanders and militiamen accused of crimes in East Timor in 1999.

"We support it as long as it is in line with our laws," said armed forces spokesman Air Vice Marshall Graito Usodo. He said the men would be provided with defense lawyers for the proceedings.

East Timor's chief minister, Mari Alkatiri, Thursday denounced an unexpected call for legislative elections as an attempt by opposition forces to provoke a political crisis.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have ceased providing food and cash for tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees stuck in squalid camps in West Timor, an official said Wednesday.

"We have stopped giving out assistance as of January 1," West Timor deputy governor Yohannes Pake Pani told AFP by phone from the capital Kupang.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court has assigned 17 judges to preside over the trials of Indonesian soldiers and militiamen accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, a news report said Thursday.

Indonesian military authorities have said they have discovered evidence of a new movement aiming to achieve independence for the whole of Timor island, according to an article in an Indonesian newspaper.

East Timorese asylum seekers might find it hard to settle back in their homeland even though it was technically safe to return, the United Nations refugee agency said yesterday.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock dismissed requests from refugee lawyers that 1600 East Timorese asylum seekers, some who arrived eight years ago, be issued special visas to stay in Australia.

East Timor's health ministry Thursday formally confirmed the territory's first cases of HIV/AIDS infection.

In a statement, the ministry said three members of an unidentified family had been found with the HIV virus and were receiving "assistance and help. "It is estimated that the family contracted the virus in the last three to four years", the ministry said.

Louise Williams – East Timorese journalists are dismayed over an agreement which will probably leave their newly independent nation without an independent national broadcaster and hands control of television and radio to its former colonial power, Portugal.

Sydnye – East Timor has finally reached agreement with US energy giant Phillips Petroleum on a plan to pipe gas to Australia that could ease the fledgling nation's poverty, its officials said Sunday.

John Phaceas – Development of a $1.5 billion gas pipeline to Phillips Petroleum's Bayu-Undan gasfield in the Timor Sea will go ahead after the US energy giant finally reached agreement with East Timorese authorities over project taxes.

Max Blenkin, Dili – In two months in East Timor, the soldiers of the Townsville-based 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, have not fired a shot in anger, let alone sighted any of the infamous militia. But that does not mean they are prepared to write them off as a completely spent force.

Constituent Assembly President Francisco "Lz-Olo" Guterres said today he expects the assembly to pass East Timor's first Constitution by the 25 January deadline.

"The process is difficult but we expect to approve a Constitution within the extra time that we have allotted for the task," he said.

The Constituent Assembly today passed twelve articles of East Timor's draft Constitution dealing primarily with political and economic rights.

The articles passed today, all with significant majorities, include the following:

Catharine Munro, Jakarta – East Timor's best-known militia leader Eurico Guterres today said he was ready to face court for human rights violations during the vote for independence in 1999. The Indonesian nationalist who was born in East Timor said he was ready to turn against the Indonesian government in the international courts.

Sydney – The commonwealth is fighting a US company's bid to win compensation in the federal court for losing vast gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

The Constituent Assembly today passed the fortieth article of East Timor's draft Constitution, approving eight articles relating to rights of the citizen.

The articles passed today, all with significant majorities, include the following:

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The military says it has found evidence that a group on the Indonesian side of Timor island is striving for an independent state, which it wants to call Timor Raya. Col.

Dili – East Timor's Constituent Assembly appears to be gaining momentum in its deliberations, today passing 12 articles covering a wide range of rights issues.

The increased speed in deliberations – as compared with the assembly's previous passage of, in some cases, just one article a day – reflects a change of procedures and longer working hours agreed upon last week.

East Timor's interim foreign minister, Jose Ramos Horta, visited the Lisbon headquarters of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) Monday, reaffirming Dili's intention of joining the seven-nation organization.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The Indonesian military is sounding the alarm over a separatist group that is aspiring to unite both halves of Timor island.

Indonesia has extended its aid programs to some 70,000 East Timorese refugees by one month to the end of January, allowing them more time to decide between repatriation and resettlement in other parts of the country.

The military commander of Indonesian West Timor, Major-General Willem da Costa, made the decision public Thursday.

Debate continued Thursday in East Timor's parliament on the future constitution of the territory, due to become independent next May. Members of the Constituent Assembly voted to remove the term "sexual orientation" from part of article 16 of the final draft constitution which deals with anti-discrimination.

Oslo – Most of the 60,000 East Timorese refugees still abroad are likely to return by the end of 2002 and any linked to pro-Jakarta militias will be treated fairly, the territory's chief minister said on Wednesday.

Members of East Timor's Constituent Assembly approved a motion Thursday extending the period for debate and approval of the future Constitution until January 25, more than a month after the date originally scheduled.

Jakarta – Indonesia was unlikely to arrest a military officer charged in the first trial of cases of crime against humanity arising from the mayhem surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote, a senior rights advocate said Wednesday.

Dili – East Timor's fledgling lawmaking body on Tuesday adopted the tongues of both their native ancestors and Portuguese colonisers as the official languages of the world's newest nation.

Bronwyn Curran, Jakarta – Ten members of a gang responsible for one of the worst massacres linked to East Timor's 1999 vote for independence were Tuesday found guilty of crimes against humanity and given jail terms of up to 33 years, United Nations officials in Dili said.

Jill Jolliffe – A former defence minister in the Whitlam government, Bill Morrison, has left open the possibility of an SAS operation to evacuate the Balibo Five from the border area of East Timor in October, 1975.

Jill Jolliffe – In 1996, I had been told about a man who claimed to have been at Balibo when the journalists died, as part of an Australian SAS force. I finally tracked him down and won his agreement to talk on the basis of anonymity. We met at his home in England in 1999. This man now works as a consultant for a Balkan army; in short, he is a soldier of fortune.

East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao Friday downplayed the impact of newly released US documents showing that Washington had been informed of and approved Indonesia4s invasion of his homeland in 1975.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia said on Friday reports the United States gave former president Suharto the green light for the bloody 1975 invasion of East Timor came as no surprise, but would not harm relations with the world's only superpower.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – Hundreds of people commemorated the anniversary Friday of Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, as speakers demanded justice for 24 years of brutal occupation.

[Ford and Kissinger gave green light to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, 1975: New Documents Detail Conversations with Suharto. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 62. Edited by William Burr and Michael L. Evans, December 6, 2001.]

The new evidence