Australia will withdraw 200 troops deployed to East Timor following February's attacks on the troubled country's president and prime minister, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

Call for U.S. response to CAVR report

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC

Dear Secretary Rice,

Recent comments about the establishment of a military court raise serious questions about how best to ensure the accountability of armed forces personnel. This issue has been sparked by the use of a site in Colmera, rather than the prison in Becora, as a detention facility for four captured dissident soldiers.

The previous week saw the country rejoice at the safe return of President Jose Ramos-Horta, now recovered from an attempt on his life. Since the President's re-entry into political life, he has made a number of surprising public statements, most recently this last Wednesday, 23 April.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta today said some people involved in the attempt on his life had fled to Australia.

He said "elements" outside East Timor had provided support to rebel leader Alfredo Reinado for at least a year leading up to the February attacks, including money, communications equipment and clothing.

Paul Toohey – East Timor has been consumed with rumours since President Jose Ramos Horta began looking beyond his own shores to an international conspiracy to assassinate him on February 11.

Lindsay Murdoch – Three rebels involved in attacks on East Timor's top two political leaders have been arrested in Indonesian West Timor where they were staying at the invitation of Joao Tavares, a notorious former pro-Jakarta militia commander.

Jakarta – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta denied on Sunday that he had linked Indonesia's army to an attack on him after Jakarta said such a suggestion could hurt ties between the countries.

Jakarta – Fresh from his acquittal of past human rights violation charges in East Timor, former pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres said Thursday he would meet Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to push for reconciliation between the two countries. The reconciliatory talk is set for April 28 in Dili.

East Timor, tomorrow, that deeply troubled nation will welcome home its President, Jose Ramos-Horta, who has been hospitalised in Darwin after being gunned down near his home three months ago. On that quite extraordinary morning, the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was also attacked and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado shot dead.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Rebels who attacked East Timor's top two political leaders had no instructions to kill them but had been ordered to Dili by their leader, Alfredo Reinado, for prearranged meetings, two rebels say.

Mark Dodd – Impoverished East Timor has signed a $28 million deal with China to buy two advanced patrol boats in a move that will alarm Australia and Indonesia about increasing Chinese influence in the struggling nation.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was involved in 47 telephone calls to or from Australia in the hours before he was shot dead at the home of East Timor's President, Jose Ramos-Horta, investigators have found.

Angus Grigg, Jakarta – It will be one of the more awkward handshakes of recent memory. The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, meeting his East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos Horta, in Bali to receive a document that flatters neither man.

Tom Hyland – Canberra is maintaining a diplomatic silence over Indonesia's failure to punish anyone implicated in the mass murders that led to Australia's military intervention in East Timor in 1999.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo, Ngawi, East Java – It is official: no one was responsible for human rights abuses that occurred around the 1999 East Timor referendum in which more than 1,000 people reportedly died. In defeat in the referendum, Indonesia was a sore loser. For several weeks mobs rampaged through Dili, even attacking the residences of priests.

The birth and infancy of Timor-Leste have been attended by spasms of violence. As the former East Timor separated from Indonesia in 1999, murderous unionist mobs killed hundreds.

This week the Indonesian Supreme Court set free Eurico Guterres, former leader of Dili's Aitarak militia. This overturns a ten-year sentence for human rights violations, served since judgement in 2006.

Dili – Two years after street violence in East Timor left dozens dead, many displaced by the unrest say they no longer fear violence, but are unable to return because their homes were destroyed.

Grigorio Sousa sits outside his tent in a makeshift camp in East Timor's violence-scarred capital and hugs his son as he speaks longingly of one day returning home.

Dili – A complete analysis of the 1999 crimes in Timor-Leste "will probably take a generation," affirmed the US Ambassador in Dili during an interview with the Lusa news agency.

"There has to be justice," replied the Ambassador when questioned about the US position with regards to the verdict of the crimes committed in 1999.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – US support for the final report of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) and the release of a former Timor Leste militia leader are face-saving efforts, says an expert.

No one is guilty for the 1999 mayhem in the then Indonesian province of East Timor. This is the conclusion of all the cases tried at Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court. And on Friday, the Supreme Court cleared former pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres of rights violations.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was under the influence of alcohol and the drug methamphetamine when he led the attacks in Dili in February, East Timor's President, Jose Ramos-Horta, has disclosed.

Dili – Authorities from Timor Leste have expressed gratitude for collaboration in several fronts and the humanitarian labour of Cuban physicians and teachers in this small south Asian country.

Mark Dodd – East Timor's police force is tribalised, corrupt, inadequately trained and has no public trust. A scathing UN report, obtained by The Australian, argues the force is politically manipulated, chronically mismanaged and massively underfunded.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta has taken aim at Indonesian military officers involved in the violence surrounding East Timor's historic 1999 vote for independence.

Jakarta – The Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) must disclose who was behind the 1999 violence in East Timor despite a Supreme Court ruling to free all civilians involved, human rights activists said here Saturday.

East Timor's armed forces are being accused of using violence against civilians as they hunt for rebel soldiers involved in February's attacks on the country's President and Prime Minister.

Almost two months after the attacks, reports from Dili confirm that many of those responsible for the attempted assassinations remain on the run.

Kupang – International aid agencies have evacuated staff from Indonesia's West Timor after violent demonstrations by ex-East Timorese refugees continued for a fifth day, social workers said on Saturday.

Christine T. Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – Former pro-Jakarta East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres, who had been jailed in Indonesia since 2006 for having committed gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999, has been acquitted, a Supreme Court judge said Friday.

• United States should support justice, not endorse impunity, says ETAN
• Administration Should Respond to CAVR Report, not endorse CTF

See interview with Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs below

Jakarta – The United States has said it would accept the findings of a truth commission probing killings by Indonesian troops during East Timor's break from Jakarta – despite a boycott of the process by the United Nations and criticism by rights groups.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Protesters continued occupying a legislative building in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday, awaiting a central government response on the question of aid disbursement for former East Timorese refugees.

Setyo Budi, Dili – If the renegade soldiers who attempted to assassinate East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Feb. 11 remain scot-free, it has more to do with the complex politics of this fledgling country than a failure of the armed forces, domestic or international, that protect it.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Thousands of former East Timorese refugees occupied the Belu Legislative Council building in Atambua on Tuesday, demanding the central government explain why assistance has failed to reach them.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Timorese-born Australian Angelita Pires admits she was the lover of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and says she understands why she has been accused of influencing him in the lead-up to last month's attacks in Dili.

Jakarta – In its findings, the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) has named an institution it blames for violence prior to and after the independence vote in the former East Timor province in 1999, Antara news agency reported.

Dili – East Timor and its foreign supporters must do more to resettle around 100,000 citizens still homeless after unrest in 2006, the International Crisis Group said Monday.

A weak economy, a lack of security and a shortage of housing have left the tiny Asian country unable to shake the problem of internally displaced persons, the think tank said in a report.

Stephanie March, Dili – Jose Sarmento lines up on a basketball court with 3,000 other displaced people to collect his rice and cooking oil for the month.

Executive summary and recommendations

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Non-government organisations have called on the East Timorese Government to end a cycle of impunity for the perpetrators of violence, including those committing political crimes.

Paul Toohey – The Australian-led International Stabilisation Force took double the normal time to travel to the compound of Jose Ramos Horta, on the day the East Timorese President was nearly killed.

By the time they got there on February 11, Mr Ramos Horta was already in an ambulance heading for the ISF medical centre in Dili.

The NGO community thanks the Ministry of Finance for this opportunity to participate, and we appreciate the support and interest from Timor-Leste's Development Partners. Please excuse our omission of individual remarks of respect.

We would like to highlight two key priorities:

Canberra – Australia on Friday strongly defended its military's response to an assassination attempt on East Timor's leadership after injured President Jose Ramos-Horta said they could have done more to capture his assailants.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta has accused a Timor-born Australian woman of influencing rebel leader Alfredo Reinado in the lead-up to last month's assassination bid.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is critical of the failure of international forces to quickly capture the rebels who attacked him in Dili last month.

Dr Ramos-Horta is recovering in Darwin after being flown to Australia with gunshot wounds from an assassination attempt outside his home on February 11.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's chief prosecutor has asserted that rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado planned to assassinate four, not two, leaders in the attack last month that wounded President Jose Ramos Horta and targeted Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Jakarta – The Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission on Truth and Friendship (CTF) has had its mandate further extended due to internal disputes over its final report.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Alfredo Reinado, the rebel leader who led last month's attacks in Dili, turned up at a television studio in Jakarta while Australian soldiers were hunting him in East Timor's mountains.

The coordinator of the Luta Hamutuk non-governmental organization in East Timor, Mericio Akara, said on Thursday that Cuba is an example for the Third World in the field of cooperation.

"The Cuban people have showed that another society, based on social justice and in which the rights to education and health are respected, is possible," Akara told ACN.