United Nations – Indonesia on Wednesday denied "back-pedaling" on autonomy proposals for East Timor, but ruled out an agreement on a draft autonomy package at current talks here.

Jakarta – Some 2,000 Indonesian and pro-Indonesian residents of East Timor have fled to neighbouring East Nusa Tenggara province and thousands of teachers sent there by Jakarta have demanded transfers, the state Antara news agency said Tuesday.

John Martinkus, Hatolia – Cut off by impassable roads and swollen rivers in East Timor's rugged interior, about 1,160 refugees fear for their lives as Indonesian army units and allied local militia groups move closer to their camp.

Jakarta – Jailed East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao met with seven opposing pro-integrationists here Saturday, and hailed the first ever talks between leaders of the warring sides as a positive beginning.

The unprecedented closed-door meeting was held in the ministry of Justice building in downtown Jakarta and lasted two hours.

Huw Watkin – Residents in East Timor's capital are turning to the Catholic Church for relief as supplies of rice and other essential foodstuffs continue to dwindle amid fears of escalating civil unrest.

Laura Myers, Jakarta – Secretary of State Madeleine Albright implored Indonesian President B.J. Habibie today not to allow East Timor to break down in bloody violence if the territory chooses independence over remaining an utonomous part of his country.

Scott Burchill - President Soeharto's sudden fall from power in May last year and East Timor's impending independence together constitute Australia's greatest post-war diplomatic failure. Neither event was anticipated by Canberra: the former came as a complete surprise, the latter has been strenuously opposed for more than two decades.

[The following is a preliminary transcript of an Interview with Xanana Gusmao Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now, prepared by the East Timor Action Network/US.]

Allan Nairn: Can you tell us who has created these militia groups, these paramilitaries that are now attacking civilians in East Timor?

Robert Karniol – The East Timorese resistance is quietly developing a coherent policy on security during pre-and post-independence periods that could devolve from a tentative agreement reached last month by Indonesia and Portugal.

On February 21 Green Left Weekly's SAM KING Spoke with MARCOS DA CRUZ, the chairperson of Renetil (National Resistance of East Timor Students) Yogyakarta.

Rick Mercier – A recent wave of killings in East Timor, coinciding with a propaganda offensive proclaiming the imminence of civil war, indicates that the Indonesian military has discovered the usefulness of paramilitaries in suppressing dissent while still presenting a humane face to the world.

Robert Garran – Australian troops, police and civilians are likely to be sent to East Timor early next year as the backbone of a UN peacekeeping force up to 2000-strong.

Peter Cole-Adams – Hundreds of Australians may be involved in monitoring, administrative support and policing in East Timor within months as part of a United Nations-sponsored international effort.

Jakarta – The UN secretary general's special envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, Monday said he felt fears of a civil war erupting in East Timor over an independence offer from Indonesia were ill-founded.

Special UN troops are likely to be sent to East Timor in March to disarm pro-integration and anti-integration civilian groups. It is evident that as long as arms are in the hands of civilan groups, shooting and killings will continue.

Geoffrey Barker, Bali – "We have crossed the Rubicon. We are relaxed ... We have put every card on the table. There has been a sea change in the Indonesian position. We are not afraid."

After nearly 25 years of violent friction between Jakarta and East Timor freedom fighters, the suddenly frank dialogue between the rival sides in recent days has been remarkable. It started when President B.J. Habibie commented in late January that he would recommend to Indonesia's next legislature that East Timor be granted independence if an offer of autonomy was rejected.

Jakarta – Two pro-Indonesian East Timorese militia leaders Thursday sent a blunt warning to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer threatening the lives of Australian diplomats and journalists.

Jakarta – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he discussed with East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao ways to reduce the violence in the province.

Dili – After being dogged by waves of conflict, East Timorese figures from both the pro-integration and pro-independence sides yesterday signed the Peace Declaration of the East Timorese for Peace Association (KOTBD) in Dili, witnessed by Tamrad Samuel, representing the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker.

Dili – Several thousand pro-independence supporters marched solemnly Thursday in East Timor's capital of Dili with the bodies of two activists who were slain in a clash.

Violence between rival groups has escalated in the former Portuguese colony since Indonesia offered last month to consider independence for the territory if the East Timorese reject an autonomy offer.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Australia and Indonesia now shared policy positions on the troubled territory of East Timor, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in Jakarta today.

[The following is a statement by Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, on Indonesia orchestrated violence in East Timor.]

[The following is a statement by the President of the CNRT, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Commander of Falintil on Indonesia orchestrated violence in East Timor.]

Jakarta – Once again we are being forced to shed tears of blood, but each drop of blood must motivate us to fight for peace!

Jakarta – East Timorese guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao will be allowed to leave the Jakarta residence where he is kept under house arrest for talks on the future of his bloodied homeland, an Indonesian official said on Wednesday.

Dili – Four people have been killed and five wounded in separate incidents in the East Timor districts of Maubara and Balibo, a top East Timorese resistance official told Lusa Tuesday.

[The following is a translation by US based human rights activist, John Rossa, of reports from the Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission in Dili, East Timor.]

Nusa Dua – Indonesia has agreed to allow Australia to reopen a consulate in East Timor as part of a push to settle the future of the troubled territory, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday.

Kasa – About 1,500 pro-Indonesian demonstrators rallied Monday in East Timor to voice their support for autonomy and rejection of independence for the troubled territory.

Tensions have been rising in the former Portuguese colony amid fears of an escalation in fighting between groups that want to stay part of Indonesia or break away from it.

Jakarta – Indonesia's minister of economy, industry and finance has clarified Jakarta's position on the Timor Gap, a potentially oil-rich offshore region, saying that "if East Timor chooses to separate from Indonesia, then the Gap region will automatically belong to East Timor".

The children of East Timor, far from being the hope for the future, may be the problem. Louise Williams travelled to a country suddenly on the verge of independence to find a generation schooled in violence.

Jakarta – Indonesian police in the troubled province of East Timor will open registration for a second batch of 250 civilian militiamen to assist its operations there, the Antara news agency said Saturday.

Dili – At least 250 members of the People's Security (Kamra) force who have just completed their training will be posted in six police districts (Polres) in East Timor, a police spokesman said.

Atika Shubert, Dili – Civil war, 23 years of Indonesian military occupation and more than 300 years of Portuguese colonialism have bequeathed an unexpected boon to the tiny territory of East Timor, and one that may be the key to its hotly debated independence: some of the world's most sought after coffee beans.

Stephen Vines, Hong Kong – Britain has offered to send troops and money to East Timor for a United Nations-sponsored peace-keeping force. The troops would be deployed in the event of an Indonesian withdrawal, which might take place by the end of this year.

Che Guevara once said that a crucial problem for armed guerrillas was the ability to survive and keep a check on their bevahiour. This humane aspect of the guerrilla struggle is an integral part of the 23 year struggle of the Falintil guerrillas.

Balibo – Thousands of pro-Indonesian East Timorese vowed Friday to defend the troubled territory's integration with Indonesia.

"Integration for us is an independence that will lead the East Timor people to prosperity," said a declaration issued during the rally in Balibo, a town near Bobonaro, which is 165 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Dili.

Hong Kong – Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta said on Friday he had received commitments from Portugal and other Western nations to help finance East Timor's transition to independence.

Canberra – Australian diplomats in Indonesia have warned in a series of confidential diplomatic cables that an independent East Timor would collapse into chaos and violence, according to a newspaper report on Friday.

Dan Murphy, Barro Pite – Martinho Fernandes stands four-square like an ageing middleweight, takes a pull on his beer and declares that he doesn't want to fight--but will if he feels he has to. And he may get that feeling. The 52-year-old civil servant leads a group of East Timorese who favour integration with Indonesia.

[The following is a transcript of interview by ABC radio, Asia Pacific's Peter Mares.]

Evidence that Indonesian authorities are indeed honouring their pledge to allow jailed East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao free access to the international media.

Jakarta – The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said here Wednesday he had appealed to Indonesia to allow it to immediately step up its presence in East Timor, citing disturbing new tensions there.

Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas on Wednesday assured investors they would not lose out if East Timor became independent and the Timor Gap oil agreement had to be renegotiated.

"If East Timor finally becomes independent, this matter would have to be renegotiated because the Timor Gap is just south of East Timor," Alatas told journalists at the state Palace.

Jakarta – A teenager died in a violent clash between pro-independence and pro-Indonesian youth groups in the troubled territory of East Timor, the second victim of such clashes there this week, a report said Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia will sponsor East Timor as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if the troubled territory opts for independence, a senior official said here Tuesday.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, foreign affairs advisor to President B.J.Habibie said it would be "in Indonesia's interests" if the former Portuguese colony joined the regional grouping.

Jakarta – Some 50,000 people Tuesday attended the burial of a 25-year-old man shot dead during an incident between pro-independence and pro-Indonesian youths in the East Timorese capital of Dili, a report said.

Jakarta – The newly-launched Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) lashed out at President B.J. Habibie for calling East Timor "a burden" and called on the nation to let go of the troubled territory.

Karen Polglaze, Jakarta – Indonesia would be solely responsible should civil war break out in East Timor, a member of Indonesian President BJ Habibie's supreme advisory council said here today.

Former East Timor governor Mario Viegas Carrascalao also scorned criticisms that East Timor would be a burden on its neighbours, including Australia, should it become independent.

Jakarta – The speed of Indonesia's change of heart over the future of East Timor, which could now become independent within months, has worried diplomats watching the troubled territory.

Officially other governments have welcomed President B.J. Habibie's statement Thursday that the former Portuguese colony of less than one million people could be independent by Janaury 1.

Patrisia Prakarsa, Jakarta – East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao said Friday dialogue was needed among all groups involved in East Timor to prevent the troubled territory descending into civil war.