Sydney – Indonesia is preparing for a massive post-ballot slaughter in East Timor – exacting retribution in blood on East Timorese for refusing to bow to the reign of terror and vote for the integration of their country into Indonesia.

Dili – A confidential Indonesian government report predicts social chaos in East Timor as Indonesians flee following an expected vote in favour of independence in August.

Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – The UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) is facing its first protest over voter registration for an August ballot on the territory's future as pro-Indonesia figures criticized Saturday registration requirements as being "unreasonably strict."

Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – A leader of a pro-Indonesia East Timor militia unit said Saturday he has been ordered to make guns in case East Timorese reject autonomy within Indonesia in a late-August UN-sponsored referendum.

Dili – UN blue berets and volunteers on Friday opened voter registration for the landmark poll on the future of East Timor, but the start was marred by the after effects of a violent militia attack.

Jakarta – Some 2,250 East Timorese living elsewhere in Indonesia are expected to register for August's vote on the territory's future, an independent East Timorese youth group said here Friday.

Geoff Spencer, Suai – Bloodshed marred the start of voter registration in East Timor for a UN-supervised ballot on independence for the Indonesian province, UN officials said today.

Witnesses said anti-independence militiamen attacked independence supporters Thursday night in the village of Salasa, about 60 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Dili.

Liquisa – Hundreds of people braved pro-Indonesia militia intimidation in this traumatized district to register Friday for a vote on East Timor's future.

A skull-and-crossbones had been painted on the window of one registration centre when 500 local residents showed up hoping to get on the voters' list at 9am, a source with the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) said.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Despite nagging security concerns, the United Nations gave its qualified approval yesterday to start voter registration in East Timor, less than six weeks before its planned vote on self-determination.

United Nations – The UN Security Council today called on Jakarta to make 'concrete progress' in improving the security situation in East Timor to ensure the holding of a landmark ballot on schedule.

Jakarta – US relations with Indonesia could suffer if ongoing violence derails a planned vote on self-determination in East Timor, a senior US government official said here Wednesday.

Don Greenlees (Jakarta) and Sian Powell (Dili) – Almost half the Indonesian Cabinet flew into East Timor yesterday in a dramatic bid by Jakarta to quell growing international anger over its failure to maintain security ahead of the UN-sponsored ballot on autonomy.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres was due to meet UN envoy Francesc Vendrell in Dili on Saturday. He didn't show up. The UN was led to believe Guterres instead went to see Governor Abilio Soares, a man with whom he has regular contact.

David Jenkins – It is Sunday afternoon in Jakarta and a colleague of Xanana Gusmao is sitting in a deserted hotel lounge discussing political developments in East Timor.

As she outlines the hopes and plans of the pro-independence movement, a solidly built Indonesian in jeans and a checked shirt appears out of nowhere and slips onto a couch beside us.

Peter Hartcher and Tim Dodd – Australia and the US have intelligence that proves that the high command of the Indonesian army and a group of Indonesian Cabinet ministers are complicit in the violence racking East Timor.

Jakarta – The chief of the UN Mission in East Timor asked the Indonesian armed forces on Wednesday to rein in pro-Indonesian militia before a planned vote on self-determination there next month.

With the rise of militia activity in a number of regencies in the last eight months has led to an increase in violence perpetrated against the general population. Many have become victims of killings, detention, rape, torture, looting, losing their homes and their entire possesions when their houses are burned by militia.

The situation of internally displaced people (IDP's) in East Timor is worsening by the day. They must face intimidation, terror; their houses are burned; health conditions are very poor with a high mortality rate due to disease and lack of adequate food.

The Indonesian Government has condemned an attack by pro-Jakarta militias on a United Nations-escorted aid convoy in East Timor, and has promised to investigate the incident.

Jakarta – Pro-independence Timorese leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta met Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto here Monday to discuss the precarious security situation in East Timor ahead of a vote on self-determination.

Sydney – Rebel leader Jose Alexandre Gusmao should be released from Indonesian custody and allowed to take part in the ballot on East Timor 's future, United Nations special envoy Jamsheed Marker said Friday.

Manatuto – The UN mission in East Timoris checking allegations of an illegal voter registration drive ahead of an August ballot on autonomy or independence in this Indonesian-ruled territory.

Local government representatives have visited villages here to find out whether residents supported autonomy under Indonesia or independence, a source in this town said.

Dili – The UN mission in East Timor (UNAMET) has withdrawn seven staff from its unarmed outpost in the town of Viqueque after the second incident of harrassment by pro-Indonesian militia in a week, a UNAMET spokesman said Thursday.

First to East Timor, where Indonesian police sources have confirmed that at least two serving Indonesian soldiers and three retired military personnel were involved in yesterday's attack on a United Nation's post in the town of Maliana.

Jakarta – Indonesia will not allow Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta to visit his native East Timor, a government minister said on Wednesday.

Ramos-Horta arrived in Jakarta last week, for the first time since Indonesia invaded his homeland and forced him into exile in 1975.

Dili – Hundreds of pro-independence fighters in East Timor have descended from the hills to sign a truce with the pro-Indonesian militia holding the town of Suai, a witness said Thursday.

About 400 soldiers of the Falintil, the armed wing of the pro-independence Council for East Timorese Resistance, signed the peace agreement brokered by a local priest, she said.

Jakarta – East Timor peace and reconciliation talks ended Wednesday in the Indonesian capital with no major agreement signed and pro-and anti-independence factions manifesting "profound divisions" despite a willingness to continue dialogue.

Jakarta – Pro-Jakarta militia leader Eurico Guterres declared Tuesday that a stoning attack against a United Nations post in the East Timor town of Maliana was a "spontaneous" public reaction against an alleged pro-independence bias by the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

Tim Johnston, Dili, East Timor – Militiamen attacked a UN compound set up to prepare an independence ballot in East Timor on Tuesday wounding six people, the United Nations and hospital sources said.

Jakarta – Indonesia said an attack on United Nations offices in East Timor on Tuesday was the result of a brawl between supporters and opponents of Jakarta's rule and denied any deliberate attack on the UN.

Dili – A 100-strong mob of pro-Indonesian militiamen attacked an unarmed UN outpost in East Timor Tuesday, injuring a woman electoral officer and several East Timorese, a UN official said.

Jean Pierre Catry – UN Secy Gen Kofi Annan and the Portuguese government have done all they can to facilitate the referendum that will decide the future of East Timor on 8 August. Mr Annan will decide if the referendum can go ahead on schedule or must be delayed.

Jakarta – Exiled East Timorese activist and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta returned to Indonesia after 23 years Saturday, saying he would travel to his homeland even if could not campaign there for independence.

Dili – The UN Mission in East Timor said Thursday it is checking reports of false identity cards being issued to people not qualified to vote in the territory's ballot on self determination.

Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said Wednesday he did not believe it was necessary for the United Nations to delay a self-determination plebiscite in East Timor for two weeks.

Alatas said he was awaiting an official announcement of the postponement from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan but that if it was true, the reasons should be clearly spelled out.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Relations between the United Nations mission in East Timor (Unamet) and Indonesian Government representatives in the territory have plummeted, with the UN branding claims that its personnel ransacked villagers' homes "nonsense and lies".

Dili – A pro-Indonesia group in East Timor Monday called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to replace the UN mission spokesman in East Timor, accusing him of favoring the pro-independence camp.

Dili – The UN mission in East Timor (UNAMET) has opened four voter registration centres for the UN-monitored vote on the future of the territory and four more will be opened by the end of the week, a spokesman said Monday.

With just seven weeks to go before the UN conducts a ballot on East Timor's future, an atmosphere of fear and insecurity persists in the disputed territory, Amnesty International delegates returning from a research visit said today at the launch of a major report.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nation's senior official in East Timor has issued a bleak assessment of human rights in the territory, days after UN officials saw Indonesian soldiers directing pro-Jakarta militiamen as they burnt houses and beat up an old man.

Peter Alford – Driving towards a hostage handover in the north-west of East Timor on Tuesday morning, a group of UN officials surprised a militia group in the act of terrorising Leotela village. It was hard to miss.

Salemba – Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, President of the CNRT, participated in the three-day meeting of the Peace and Stability Commission (PSC) that was concluded in Jakarta today. The following points were adopted during the PSC meetings:

Dili – The UN mission in East Timor said Friday it has seen Indonesian military-backed militia burning houses and intimidating people, posing a "serious obstacle" to a vote on the territory's future.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The United Nations chief in East Timor, Mr Ian Martin, has personally investigated reports of villagers being abducted by pro-Jakarta militias in East Timor's violence-prone western district.

Jakarta – East Timor's Peace and Stability Commission began Wednesday a series of meetings aiming to define a code of conduct for rival factions before, during and after the half-island's August 8 autonomy-or-independence plebiscite

By Peter Cole-Adams, Mark Dodd and Lindsay Murdoch – The Indonesian Government says it has stopped attempts by the provincial government in East Timor to channel money from an aid budget into the anti-independence campaign for the territory's forthcoming plebiscite.

Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said Wednesday that Indonesia stood firm in barring the return of self-exiled resistance activist Jose Ramos Horta to East Timor, and warned him against trying to enter the territory illegally.

The Indonesian govt's Taskforce for Implementation of the Consultation in East Timor, in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Information, has set up a Media Centre to handle all information relating to the Consultation in East Timor.

Jakarta – Indonesia on Tuesday sent a second batch of 821 police reinforcements to East Timor ahead of the August 8 UN-monitored ballot to determine the future of the former Portuguese colony.

Mark Dodd, Dili – Indonesian authorities in East Timor plan to use more than $7 million in aid money earmarked for the poor to fund pro-autonomy propaganda and militia groups, according to documents obtained by the Herald.