Michael Richardson, Manila – As Indonesia withdrew nearly 400 troops from East Timor as a goodwill gesture Tuesday, the country's foreign minister laid out details for the first time of a plan to give "wide-ranging autonomy" to the disputed territory.

Lisbon – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ramos Horta in Lisbon last week appealed to the inernartional community to "verify" Indonesia's announced troop withdrawal from his troubled homeland. Ramos Horta said the international community should check on the announced withdrawal of troops before believing it.

Jakarta – Indonesia plans to withdraw next week some of the thousands of troops it has stationed in the troubled territory of East Timor, military officials said on Friday.

Speaking at a seminar in Jakarta Thursday, Bishop Belo said the vast majority of East Timorese people want a referendeum to determine East Timor's future. He said that whether or not a referendum is held depends on the results of talks between Indonesia, Portugal and the UN. And if a referendum is held, he said, it should be supervised by an independent and authoritative body.

Amy Chew, Jakarta – The 22nd anniversary of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor passed off peacefully in Dili on Friday as the territory's jailed guerrilla leader opened the way for direct diplomatic contact between Jakarta and Lisbon.

Indonesia has based its claim that the East Timorese have already expressed their desire to integrate into Indonesia on two actions: Balibo Declaration (November 30, 1975) and the Act of Integration (May 31, 1976). Listed below are certain facts which show that these two actions cannot be regarded as justification for integration.

Jakarta – The East Timorese people will overlook the horrors of war for the past 23 years and consider the invasion of their country, by the Indonesians, a "mistake in history" if Jakarta is willing to allow them a stronger say in their own political future, jailed Resistance leader Xanana Gusmao told a seminar yesterday.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Tensions are rising in East Timor ahead of a visit this week of the United Nations special envoy Mr Jamsheed Marker, and tens of thousands of non-Timorese residents are reported to have fled the contested province.

For the past six years, East Timorese independence fighter Xanana Gusmco has languished inside Jakarta's Cipinang prison, accused of plotting against the state and illegal possession of weapons. Leader of the revolutionary group fretilin, Gusmco, 52, recently began secret talks with Indonesian officials over East Timor's future.

The East Timor International Support Center is deeply disturbed by reports from East Timor's capital, Dili, that shoot on sight warnings have been issued by the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) to East Timorese planning pro-independence protests this week.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information involving the extra-judicial execution of Maria da Costa (previously reported as Maria Freitas).

Dili – At the moment in East Timor underground leaflets are being distributed which smack of playing people off against each other [ie anti-and pro-integration supporters - JB] and threats which are upsetting society. The leaflets threaten to finish-off East Timorese people who are anti-integration and anti-Habibie.

Dili, (Yayasan Hak, Rights Foundation) – On June 24, at 1:00 pm a secret meeting was held in the Korem 164 WD military district in East Timor between top Indonesian military (ABRI) officers and the Jakarta-controlled pro-integration party, APODETE. The following were agreed upon between APODETE and ABRI:

United Nations – The United Nations said Thursday it has made no formal proposals to settle the issue of the status of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, annexed in 1976 by Indonesia.

The Darwin-based East Timor International Support Center (ETISC) received information, late this evening, that "nindja" groups have been mobilised by the Indonesian military (Abri) to terrorise East Timorese supporting a referendum for the troubled territory.

Padang – Influential Indonesian Moslem leader Amien Rais on Friday backed a referendum on the future of East Timor. Rais, leader of the 28-million-strong Islamic group Muhammadiyah, said a referendum could be held under the supervision of international agencies.

Irwan Firdaus, Dili – A military court sentenced an Indonesian soldier to 10 years in prison Thursday for killing an East Timorese civilian. Prosecutors accused 2nd Sgt. Slamet, 23, of shooting Herman dos Dores Soares on June 16 in the town of Manatuto, 37 miles east of Dili. They said the victim had been collecting wood by a roadside.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Activists and parliamentarians yesterday welcomed a compromise offer from East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta on the future of the disputed territory.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Indonesian intelligence officers opened fire on East Timorese demonstrators during a visit by three European Union ambassadors to the coastal town of Baucau yesterday, as anti-Indonesian street rallies escalated across the contested territory.

Indonesian military along with the Governor Abilio Jose Osorio, forced civilian population, civil-servants and young boys to hold a counter demonstration during the time of Europe Union Ambassadors Delegation visit. All companies and businessman have to provide their cars, without exception for the transportation of demonstrators.

Dili – Thousands of people shouting "independence or death" on Sunday mobbed a three-man European Uniondelegation in troubled East Timor, witnesses said. The chanting crowd, estimated at some 6,000 and made up mostly of students and youths, ran alongside and behind the car carrying the three ambassadors.

Dili – Security concerns forced three European Union (EU) ambassadors to abandon plans Sunday to attend a mass and visit a university in East Timor, protocol officials said. The change in plans followed clashes in the capital Dili on Saturday between pro-and anti-Indonesian East Timorese around the arrival of the visitors in the troubled former Portuguese colony.

Dili - With the delegation of European Union Ambassadors having set foot on Dili, East Timor's capital, less than an hour on Saturday, riots started in this city of some 170,000 inhabitants. Stone-throwing bouts broke out in the heart of the city between pro-integration plus pro-autonomy groups and those demanding a referendum.

[This is the detailed chronology of events from June 27-June 29, from the EU Ambassadors' visit to Dili to the tragic shootings in Baucau. The following information was supplied to East Timor International Support Centre by Yayasan Hak (Rights Foundation). The original report was in Bahasa Indonesia - ETISC.]

Dili – Indonesian troops shot dead one man and seriously wounded two others when rival groups of protesters clashed in a town in East Timor Saturday, witnesses said.

Dili – An estimated 50,000 people paraded through the streets of the East Timor capital yesterday in a motorcade protest calling for reform and dialogue on the future of the troubled territory, witnesses said.

Lewa Pardomuan, Dili – East Timorese reacted coolly on Wednesday to a meeting between the territory's Bishop Carlos Belo and Indonesian President B.J. Habibie and said fresh protests demanding a referendum on independence would be held on Thursday.

Louise Williams Jakarta and Jenny Grant in Dili – A new offer from Indonesia to grant East Timor special status and release the jailed resistance leader Xanana Gusmao would provide only a transitional solution, East Timorese leaders warned yesterday.

Jenny Grant, Dili – Tension rose in the East Timorese capital of Dili yesterday as students entered their third day of protests against Indonesian rule. Two thousand students marched from the University of East Timor to the parliament building where they met legislature officers and demanded a referendum.

Jakarta – Indonesia's president today offered to release imprisoned East Timor rebel leader Jose Xanana Gusmao in return for world recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over the disputed territory.

Lisbon – Hundreds of detentions, "missing" and deaths continued to occur in Indonesia and East Timor in 1997, according to the annual report by Amnesty International (AI).

Don Greenlees, Dili – Chanting, singing hymns and waving banners calling for an end to Indonesian rule, 2000 East Timorese paraded through the streets of Dili yesterday in an emotional outpouring over the killing of a 21-year-old local man by a soldier [Other reports have put the number of demonstrators as high as 10,000 - JB].

Louise Williams, Dili – East Timor's provincial Parliament met protesting pro-independence students yesterday for the first time and formally accepted their demands, including a call for United Nations peacekeepers to supervise a ceasefire in the contested province.

Jakarta – Indonesia's army chief said on Tuesday that East Timor's integration into Indonesia is supported by the territory's people, countering open calls for a referendum on self determination for the territory.

Jakarta – Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said on Monday a referendum on East Timor's future would only trigger a divide among the territory's people. "It will only invite dissension between anti-and pro-integrationists," Alatas was quoted as telling reporters by the official Antara news agency.

Thirty East Timorese visited Komnas HAM, the National Commission on Human Rights today to complain about the brutal attack on their peaceful demonstration last Friday.

Louise Williams, Dili – The East Timorese Bishop Carlos Belo says a "transitional solution" to the protracted Timor conflict must include the immediate granting of special status to the contested province and the release of the jailed independence fighter Xanana Gusmao.

Lisbon – A former commander of the East Timorese separatist rebels, M'a Huno, was arrested late Friday in Dili and could be facing torture, a pro-independence East Timorese group warned Saturday.

In a statement sent to AFP in Lisbon, the Socialist Association of Timor said M'a Huno was arrested by Indonesian troops stationed in East Timor.

Don Greenlees – More than 250 prisoners in Dili's Becora jail refuse to return to their cells for the past nine days and have eaten little food as part of a protest calling for political reforms, human rights activists said yesterday.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Riot police yesterday violently broke up a Jakarta demonstration by about 1,500 East Timorese who were calling for a referendum on the future of the territory.

About 250 soldiers and police armed with guns, rattan sticks and riot shields dispersed the crowd of mainly students who had rallied in the grounds of the Foreign Ministry.

Jakarta – Some 1,000 East Timor students rallied Saturday against Indonesian rule in provincial capital Dili and called for a referendum on self-determination, following a day of similar protests here.

Christopher Torchia, Dili – Rejecting a presidential promise of special status for their homeland within Indonesia, thousands of East Timorese demonstrated today for the right to vote for full independence.

More than 3,000 students and others gathered on the grounds of the state-funded University of East Timor.

A report just received by ETISC from reliable sources in Dili, East Timor confirms that a very significant gathering took place there on Saturday 6 June.

At least 1,500 students took part in a free-speech assembly at the University of East Timor in Dili today, 1 June, according to a report received by TAPOL from local sources.

The event took place despite attempts by the University Rector, P. Theo T. Ralella to prevent it from happening.

Jakarta – President Jusuf Habibie has no plans to change Indonesia's policy on the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, the Jakarta Post reported on Tuesday.

Xanana Gusmao, ex-leader of the East Timorese guerrilla fighters who reject integration with Indonesia, has said that the Suharto regime is responsible for most of the problems in East Timor.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received information from reliable sources that an East Timorese man, Costodio da Silva Nunes, was extra-judicially executed by Indonesian security personnel on 7 May, 1998.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information in relation to Sabino Barbosa Ximenes who was detained in Dili on 11 September, 1997, by members of SGI (Special Intelligence Unit).

A prominent Muslim leader in Indonesia, also seen as the emerging leader of a People's Power movement against President Suharto, today, called for the right of self-determination of the East Timorese people to be respected. He also admitted that Indonesia's rule of the troubled territory is a severe drain on Jakarta's coffers.

Dili – Four Timorese youth were shot dead last week in Maubara, 50 km west of Dili, religious sources at the territory said on Monday.

According to several sources quoted by Agence France Press, local militias armed by the Indonesian forces allegedly executed the four youth.