Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The alleged killing of a popular musician by an East Timorese policeman has prompted demands for the Government in Dili to rein in heavily armed police units.

East Timor's Chief of Police has suspended an officer while police investigate the shooting death of a 25-year-old man. The incident sparked angry protests on the streets of the capital and some victims advocacy groups are calling for East Timorese police to be disarmed.

Presenter: Stephanie March

Secret Cabinet documents from 1979 released by the Australian National Archives on January 1 confirm high tension between Australia and Indonesia over East Timor, as famine spread in the Indonesian-occupied territory.

Linda Mottram – Secret cabinet documents from 1979 have confirmed the high tensions between Australia and Indonesia over East Timor, as the Fraser government balanced how best to give aid while famine spread across the occupied territory.

Matt Crookm, Dili – The tiny nation of East Timor could face a deadly AIDS epidemic, with promiscuity among youths, low condom use and general ignorance leading to a sharp increase in reported cases, doctors said.

"Most likely it will be a disaster in the near future," said Dr. Daniel Murphy, founder of Bairo Pite Clinic, one of four voluntary AIDS testing centres in Dili.

The Malaysian High Court has awarded compensation to 29 activists who were wrongfully detained in Malaysia 13 years ago. The group were part of a regional conference, held in the Malaysian capital in 1996, to discuss East Timor's struggle for independence. The forum was attacked by 400 people led by the ruling UMNO party, and police arrested more than 100 people.

Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysian High Court on Tuesday ordered the government to compensate 29 rights activists for wrongful detention over a controversial gathering to discuss East Timor 13 years ago.

The court awarded a total of RM870,000 (253,000 dollars) to the activists, who were held by police in the Malaysian capital for up to six days.

Adrienne Francis - There are renewed concerns that one of Australia's worst exotic pests may have hitchhiked to East Timor.

In September, a Timorese environmental group accused Australian peacekeepers of introducing cane toads during operations in 1999. However, it was later proved to be a case of mistaken identity.

Wendy Bruere – A young Jose Ramos-Horta, shown as the foreign minister of a newly independent East Timor, implores Roger East, an aging Australian journalist, to travel to his country to run a media agency.

There is not a single reason why the Film Censorship Board should ban the screening of Balibo at the current Jakarta International Film Festival. Whether the board realizes it or not, either on its own initiative or at the behest of a third party, the board seems to be engaged in a show of strength.

The Timor Leste (formerly East Timor) story and that of Col. (ret) Gatot Purwanto, 62, are intertwined. This former Special Forces (Kopassus) officer can be said to have witnessed all of the bloody incidents that happened in Indonesia's former 27th province. In fact, Gatot was involved in East Timor since the beginning of his military career.

The ban on screening Balibo recalls the 1975 deaths of five foreign journalists in East Timor. One witness of this incident, a former intelligence officer, believes the element of dramatization is inevitable, resulting in a fictional film featuring images of a brutal military.

Sydney – Australia said on Thursday that it would reduce its troop commitment in East Timor by more than a third following a prolonged period of stability in the tiny nation.

Adam Gartrell, Jakarta – An Australian Federal Police (AFP) probe into the Balibo Five killings is still in its early stages and it's too soon to say if investigators will seek to interview witnesses in Indonesia, commissioner Tony Negus says.

Stephen Fitzpatrick – The retired Indonesian commando at the centre of the Balibo Five killings says he will refuse to give evidence to an Australian Federal Police investigation into the incident, since he has no authority to do so.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – As they cowered in a flimsy shack in a banana grove, the Balibo Five were killed by ferocious volleys of gunfire from Indonesian soldiers and their Timorese allies in a lengthy assault on their hideout, Gatot Purwanto says.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has insisted the foreign journalists known as the Balibo Five were accidentally killed in East Timor in 1975, despite an admission by a former army colonel that the newsmen were executed by Indonesian soldiers.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ashlee Betteridge – The Armed Forces on Tuesday shrugged off a former soldier's statement that Indonesian military forces killed the so-called Balibo Five and burned their bodies to conceal evidence the military was active in that area.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – The Balibo Five were deliberately killed during Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, according to a retired commando who was in the special forces squad that shot them.

Matt Crook, Dili – The UN mission in East Timor needs to hand over formal control of the country's national police force as soon as possible to avoid doing irreparable damage, according to an influential think-tank.

Talek Harris, Sydney – Relatives of five journalists killed in the East Timor border town of Balibo in 1975 on Tuesday welcomed a former soldier's "milestone" statement that they were shot by invading Indonesian troops.

Rod McGuirk, Jakarta – A former Indonesian army colonel has told a magazine that soldiers deliberately killed five Western journalists in East Timor in 1975, contradicting his government's line that they accidentally died in a crossfire.

A former Indonesian army colonel has admitted Indonesian soldiers deliberately killed the so-called Balibo Five journalists to cover up the invasion of East Timor.

Gatot Purwanto says a rational decision was made to kill the Australia-based newsmen, contradicting Indonesia's long-held official line they died in crossfire.

Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans has been appointed Chancellor of The Australian National University by the University Council today.

..."Gareth Evans has made an outstanding contribution to Australian life and international affairs over his long career. His national and international standing makes him a perfect fit for ANU," Professor Chubb said...

Matt Crook, Dili – East Timor's leaders say bringing to justice perpetrators of atrocities committed during the Indonesian army's occupation would sour relations between the neighbouring countries, but not everyone is so keen to forgive and move on.

Dili – East Timor should form its anti-corruption commission soon to support the economy and maintain people's trust in the half-island nation, President Jose Ramos-Horta said Saturday.

Daniel Flitton – East Timor has warned it will abandon a multibillion-dollar deal with Australia to exploit natural gas fields in the Timor Sea unless a pipeline is built to deliver the bounty directly to the impoverished nation.

Philip Dorling – The Defence Department has blocked the release of 34-year-old intelligence papers that would shed new light on the deaths of the Balibo Five journalists and potentially embarrass former prime minister Gough Whitlam.

David Coady – An international charity focussed on safe water and sanitation says children are dying needlessly in East Timor due to poor toilet facilities.

WaterAid Australia estimates more than 1000 children die from diarrhoea in East Timor each year and poor sanitation is a reason for this.

[Special correspondent Kira Kay examines East Timor's ongoing effort to rebuild itself, 10 years after winning independence from Indonesia. The report is part of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting's Fragile States project, a partnership with the Bureau of International Reporting.]

Guido Goulart, Dili – Families in East Timor appealed Thursday to their own government and Indonesian authorities to help recover the bodies of dozens of loved ones still missing 18 years after being gunned down in a cemetery during Jakarta's two-decade rule.

Jakarta – Former Indonesian president BJ Habibie expressed his ire at former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan on Monday with regard to the independence of East Timor (now Timor Leste) from Indonesia.

East Timor says it will seek compensation from Australia if its waters or shores are polluted by a leaking oil rig.

Lindsay Murdoch – Maternus Bere, a Timorese-born Indonesian citizen accused of crimes against humanity, was ushered secretly across the border from East Timor into Indonesia last weekend, ending weeks of behind-the-scenes intrigue in Dili.

AI Index: ASA 21/020/2009

Reports emerged today that Maternus Bere, an indicted militia leader charged with crimes against humanity, was returned from Timor-Leste to Indonesia last week. His transfer to West Timor robs the victims of justice, as it occurred before his case had even been prosecuted by an independent court in a fair trial.

Mark Dodd – An audit of East Timor's public finances by Darwin-based accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has uncovered $189 million worth of discrepancies, raising serious concerns of financial mismanagement by the Gusmao government.

Dili, East Timor – East Timor's struggle against Indonesian occupation may soon become a money maker. The government is considering plans to promote major sites of the 25-year fight for independence as part of a tourism campaign.

A suspected militia leader accused in a massacre of dozens of women, children and priests in a church in East Timor a decade ago, had been returned to Indonesia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

Jakarta – Activists in London demanded Monday that Indonesian authorities bring to justice those responsible for killing Dutch Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes in then East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia after a 1999 referendum.

IPI warns Indonesia's commitment to democracy undermined

Barbara Trionfi – Ten years after Dutch Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes was murdered in East Timor, participants at a commemoration held at the 'Frontline Club' in London demanded that the Indonesian authorities bring to justice those responsible for his killing.

The new Australian Commander of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in East Timor says there are many signs of progress in the country.

Commodore Stuart Mayer took over as the Commander of the Australian and New Zealand forces in East Timor yesterday. He says East Timor is stable, but still faces challenges.

New York – The European Union concurred with the United Nations Friday on the need to strengthen East Timor's capability to handle its own security before the UN mission there can be withdrawn.

On October 20, La'o Hamutuk sent this letter to the member of the UN Security Council in New York, together with the annex which follows below. Both are available with links and as PDF files from http://www.laohamutuk.org/Justice/09LhtoUNSCJustice.htm

Steve Holland – An East Timorese government delegation led by Prime Minster Xanana Gusmao is in China looking for support for its bid for a major gas processing plant to be built in East Timor instead of Darwin.

Belinda Lopez – In Blok AA1 of the Christian cemetery in Kebayoran Lama, an engraved headstone marks the resting place of young journalists shot by the Indonesian military.

Dili – East Timor's opposition Fretilin party said there had been a "huge swing" against the government in recent village or 'suco' elections, even though candidates were supposed to be independent.

Dili – East Timor's first joint military exercise with the United States began Wednesday with the arrival of the USS Bonhomme Richard assault ship.

Dili – East Timor's opposition stayed on the offensive Tuesday after the government survived a no-confidence vote over its decision to free an Indonesian militia leader accused of crimes against humanity.

Guido Goulart, Dili – East Timor's government faced a no-confidence vote Monday over the release at Indonesia's request of an alleged militia leader accused of war crimes in the slayings of women, children and priests in a church a decade ago.