Pretoria – South African President Nelson Mandela called on Indonesia Wednesday to free jailed East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao, saying his release was essential to resolve the conflict in the former Portuguese colony.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) fears for the safety of Santina Morreira Belo, aged 22, and her baby aged under one, who disappeared after Santina Morreira Belo was arrested on 12 July 1997.

The UDT [Timorese Democratic Union] has reservations regarding [South African President] Nelson Mandela's diplomatic initiative on East Timor. The leader of UDT, one of the factions of the Timorese resistance, has said that caution is needed.

[A version of this appears in the latest edition of the Darwin-based AustralAsian]

Johannesburg – South Africa's President Nelsom Mandela issued a statement through the President's Office confirming reports of his meeting with Fretilin (sic) leader, Xanana Gusmao, during his recent state visit to Indonesia.

Jakarta – One East Timorese rebel resisting Indonesia's rule in the former Portuguese colony has been killed in an attack on the 21st anniversary of the territory's annexation, the official Antara news agency reported on Friday.

Concerns are held for Joaquim Moreira and up to 84 other East Timorese people who may still be in detention following their arrest in June 1997(see UA 17/97). The 85 detainees were arrested in Quelicai, Baucau district, between 5 and 16 June as part of an intensive military operation launched by members of Battalion 312 and Team Saka.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities will bring 33 people to court over protests in the capital of East Timor during the visit of a United Nations envoy to the troubled territory in March, a report said here Thursday.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) holds grave fears for the safety of five East Timorese men still in military custody following their arrest in Caibada near Baucau on 25 June, 1997 (see UA 16/97). The five men were arrested together with David Alex, second in command of the armed East Timorese Resistance (Falintil), by members of Kopassus (Special Forces Command).

According to an AFP report of 5 July, based on a report from Antara news agency of the same day, 'relatives of the slain East Timorese rebel David Alex are now satisfied that David Alex is dead and buried, after earlier questioning his death.

It is believed that the fifth man arrested in Kaibada, near Baucau in East Timor on 25 June, is Cesario da Costa. The five included David Alex, second-in-command of the East Timorese National Liberation Army, Falintil, who later died in custody.

Lisbon – UN and Indonesian officials are to set up an inquiry into the death of the deputy leader of East Timorese rebels fighting Indonesian troops in the former Portuguese colony, Nobel Peace prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta announced Friday.

Dili – Indonesian securities forces have killed one East Timorese guerilla member and captured 14 others during an operation on Wednesday in Curusa, 145 km of the capital Dili, a military spokesman has said.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military commander in troubled East Timor Thursday dismissed reports that rebel leader David Alex was still alive but said he would not block an independent investigation.

The guerrilla leader David Alex who has died aged 50 after being captured by Indonesian forces, had fought in the mountains of East Timor since the Indonesian army landed in the former Portuguese colony in 1975. He was fourth in the resistance's military hierarchy and was feared by Indonesian officers for his daring raids. He had been hunted for many years.

By Miranda Sissons, International Relations Program, Yale University. Summary of a forthcoming publication of the East Timor Human Rights Centre

A Reuter report on 27 June quoted an army lieutenant as saying by phone from Dili: 'David Alex was buried in a public cemetery in Dili on Thursday afternoon and the burial was attended by his relatives.'

The ETHRC has received an urgent appeal from Baucau, East Timor, where 85 East Timorese people were arrested between 5 June and 16 June 1997. One ETHRC source has reported that the 85 are still in detention at Kodim headquarters in Baucau, however this is still unconfirmed and it is not known how many of the 85 are still detained.

We are deeply concerned over the safety of five East Timorese arrested together with the Baucau commander of the East Timor armed Resistance, David Alex. Indonesian authorities refuse to disclose their whereabouts and our sources indicate they might be detained in the Rumah Merah Indonesian military torture installation in Baucau.

We have good reason to believe that the Baucau commander of the East Timor armed Resistance, David Alex, is still alive contrary to claims by the Indonesian armed forces (Abri) that he was killed in a battle.

There is currently a climate of fear in East Timor with the launch of a sweep-up operation, called Gerakan Tuntas (Annihilation Campaign) , by the Indonesian armed forces (Abri). We have received numerous phone calls, from the territory, with the callers telling us of heavy movements of Indonesian troops in the towns of Liquica and Baucau and the capital Dili.

Military claims that East Timorese armed resistance leader, David Alex, died yesterday while in the custody of the Indonesian military again raises the immediate need for independent human rights monitors to have access to the country, Amnesty International said today.

Three men, Virgilio dos Santos Pinto, Cancio da Costa and Gil Fernandes, arrested on or around 14 June 1997, are believed to be in military custody in the town of Los Palos, East Timor, where they are at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment.

Jakarta – On the eve of U.N. sponsored peace talks in New York, Indonesian military commanders in East Timor on Thursday vowed to crack down on what they described as increasingly "brutal" tactics employed by the disputed region's separatists, a local newspaper reported.

We have received an urgent warning from a reliable source in Indonesia that the Indonesian Armed Forces (Abri), are planning an all-out offensive beginning this Friday, June 20, against East Timorese who are suspected to be associated with the Resista nce against Indonesia's illegal occupation of East Timor.

Farhan Haq, United Nations – Indonesian troops have stepped up a campaign of arrests and atrocities against the civilian population in East Timor, pro-Timorese activists and human rights groups argue.

The 'East Timorese Students Movement for Peace' (METLP) distributed a document addressed to the Head of the Parliament of Indonesia on Monday 16 June. In conjunction with this, a rally of East Timorese students has been organised at the regional Parliament in Surabaya at 10.00 am.

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) plans to intensify its congressional lobbying campaign in the aftermath of a flury of activity related to Indonesia in the US House of Representatives this past week.

Dili – Col. Salamat Sidabutar took over his new post as chief of the Wiradharma military command yesterday and pledged to crack down harder on Fretilin separatists.

Dili – On the outskirts of Baucau near the military airport, two stones on the road mark the place where Amaro Belo, a 35-year-old East Timorese, was gunned down by troops of the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) last Friday night at 6pm.

Geneva – The UN Development Programme mistakenly included East Timor in a item on Indonesia in a 1997 report, a spokeswoman said here Friday, stressing that the UN has never recognized the annexation of the former Portuguese colony.

Sydney – Indonesian security forces killed on June 9 an East Timorese youth in the province of Viqueque, after accusing him of collaborating with the local resistance self-determination movement, a source has told Lusa.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court in troubled East Timor has jailed a youth to six months and 15 days for involvement in violence in the main town of Dili on Christmas eve, a report said Wednesday.

Jakarta – One of four men arrested in connection with a market fire in the East Timor capital Dili has been implicated in an attack on a truck last month which left 17 policemen dead, police said.

Dili – Four out of six members of GPK from Baucau and Viqueque, Timor Timur, who had been caught to have torched a public market (Old Mercado) in Dili causing 500 kiosks to burn on Saturday (June 6) were successfuly arrested by personnel of Timor Timur's criminal police bureau.

Jakarta – Indonesian security officers have so far captured 120 members of the separatist guerrilla movement in troubled East Timor after a recent surge of violence over the country's general election period, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.

East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta has condemned any targeting of civilians by the resistance movement.

He made the comment after allegations that nine civilians were killed by the guerillas in East Timor, in what could be a dramatic change in tactics used in the conflict.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) holds grave fears for the safety of seven East Timorese men arrested between 29 and 30 May, 1997, in the sub-district of Atabae, Bobonaro. The arrests are believed to be part of the repercussions which have followed the wave of violence surrounding the the recent Indonesian election.

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information about David Dias Ximenes who was arrested on 31 May at his home in Dili. An ETHRC source has confirmed that a warrant was issued for Ximenes' arrest and that he has now had access to legal representation.

New York – We have received new information about the killing of seven civilians at the home of Castelho, a teacher at the local elementary school in Irara, Los Palos, East Timor, that raises questions about the identity of the attackers.

Jakarta – Human Rights Watch/Asia on Thursday voiced concern over what it described as widespread arrests of civilians and dissidents in East Timor by Indonesian security officers after recent guerrilla attacks.

Darwin – Twelve people have been killed and more than 200 arrested in the town of Baucau in the past two days, East Timorese activists said yesterday.

More deaths and arrests were suspected in the capital Dili, as well as in Los Palos.

Students and primary school teachers were among those arrested following rebel attacks against Indonesian forces.

The East Timorese armed resistance is very much alive, despite the propaganda claims by the Indonesian armed forces in the Suharto regime that the independence fighters have all been decimated. Over the weekend, East Timor independence fighters killed at least 18 Indonesian police in a highway ambush.

A series of attacks between May 27 and May 31 by resistance forces in East Timor, leading to the deaths of at least nine civilians and more than twenty military and police, has led to widespread arrests of suspected resistance supporters throughout the territory.

[ETAN/US received the following document as a fax, in English, from the resistance in East Timor. This is the first direct report we have seen giving the East Timorese internal resistance's view of recent events.

Cologne, Germany – East Timor resistance spokesman Ramos Horta said Monday a bloody weekend rebel attack is a warning to the Indonesian authorities to negotiate a solution through the United Nations.

Three East Timorese refugees took part in further nonviolent resistance to British weapons exports to Indonesia at the beginning of May, painting various half-assembled armoured vehicles with the message, "NOT FOR EXPORT TO INDONESIA."

Jakarta – Indonesia on Saturday replaced its army commander in the heavily militarised province of East Timor, days after the deadliest wave of violence in the territory in recent years, the Antara news agency reported.

Indonesian authorities say at least 15 people have died in East Timor, in a series of attacks by suspected separatist rebels.

Michael Maher reports that the violence occurred ahead of elections held throughout Indonesia today.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Millions of Indonesians went to the polls for general parliamentary elections Thursday. As Jenny Grant reports from Jakarta, balloting was marred by election-eve violence in the disputed territory of East Timor, where at least 13 people were shot dead.