Setyo Budi, Dili – Hundreds of people gathered Thursday for the funeral of Alfredo Reinado, the rebel soldier who was slain in an alleged coup bid against the government of President Jose Ramos-Horta.

Michael Leach – When I wrote on Monday that disarming the increasingly threatening and erratic Major Alfredo Reinado had become a critical priority for national unity in East Timor, there was little indication that these concerns could be so dramatically realised within hours.

Anthony Deutsch, Dili – The rebels jumped from two cars, firing machine guns as they stormed the compound of President Jose Ramos-Horta. "Traitor! Traitor!" they shouted, hunting for the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Donald Greenlees, Dili – Before President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot outside his home on Monday, the Nobel Peace laureate was not overly concerned about his personal security in a country with a history of sudden and unpredictable eruptions of violence.

The UN must play a part in ending the lawlessness that culminated in this week's attempted assassinations of Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the death of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado by acting on its mandate to further the cause of justice for serious crimes, say campaigners

The United Nations Security Council meeting on UNMIT has been delayed one week, until 21 February. Yesterday, La'o Hamutuk sent the following letter to the Security Council members.

12 February 2008

United Nations Security Council
New York, New York, USA

Dear Members of the United Nations Security Council:

Simon Montlake and Nick Squires, Bangkok/Sydney – A foiled dawn attack Monday by rebel soldiers on East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, who was shot and seriously wounded, has roiled this fledgling Southeast Asian country. But it may also signal the end of a rebel movement that had plagued efforts to restore stability.

East Timor's maverick seemed desperate for martyrdom

Fabio Scarpello in Banda Aceh – When Alfredo Reinado died in a hail of gunfire outside the home of President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday, he was fulfilling a dream to either seize control of East Timor, or to go down in a blaze of glory trying.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – East Timor's president, Jose Ramos Horta, was shot in the stomach in a pre-dawn attack on his home by fugitive members of the country's armed forces, a presidential spokesman said Monday.

Jill Jolliffe – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is undergoing surgery at an Australian military base in the capital, Dili, after being shot twice in an attack on his home by rebels, a presidential adviser said today.

Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was shot and killed in the attack, according to Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres and an army spokesman.

Meg Munn MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH

11 February 2008

Dear Ms Munn,

Keiji Hirano, Tokyo – Human rights campaigners in Japan and East Timor have jointly made a set of panels for exhibition showing testimonies of former "comfort women" in the newly independent nation so the local people can learn about their history during the occupation by the Japanese military.

Dili – Eight unidentified men attacked a bus and killed three passengers near Los Palos, the Indonesian police said on Tuesday. The spokesman for the police in Dili, Colonel Muarfi, said that the attack took place last Sunday and that the three passengers were beaten to death.

Seth Mydans and Tim Johnston – President Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor was shot and critically wounded at his home on Monday by renegade soldiers in an attack that threatened to intensify the continuing unrest that has destabilized the struggling young nation, according to reports from the capital, Dili.

Heather Stewart – While there has been relative calm during the wet season in East Timor, more than 100,000 East Timorese are living in appalling conditions in tent cities across Dili and in the fledgling nation's remote districts.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has promised a "year of reform" but the refugees have almost given up hope.

Loro Horta, Dili – Since the 2006 deployment of Australian peacekeeping troops to East Timor, the Australian Defense Force (ADF) has been confronted with a persistent anti-Australian sentiment from large sections of the population.

Dili – "It's when you see a child who looks nine but is actually 12 that you realise the extent of malnutrition in Timor Leste," Jean Flueren, the World Food Programme (WFP) country director, told IRIN. "Forty-six percent of children throughout the country are stunted," he said, and 42.6 percent of children under five are underweight, according to the WFP.

James Madden – The widow of one of the five journalists killed by the Indonesian military at Balibo in 1975 has labelled Paul Keating "ignorant" for attributing the blame for the murders to "irresponsible" Australian news organisations.

President Suharto of Indonesia, who died last month, was responsible for the invasion of East Timor in 1975, for its occupation for almost 25 years, for the murder of so many of its people and for the insecure and traumatised state it remains in despite its emergence as a free, new country six years ago

Dili – The building of the former Portuguese and Indonesian prison of Balide, Dili, hosts this week-end an exhibition dedicated to former political prisoners of East Timor between 1975 and 1999.

The exhibition is organised by the Association Memory Alive, which is dedicated to the collection of material on the prisoners Timorese under Indonesian occupation of East Timor.

Backgrounder on the Indonesia/Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship

1. This backgrounder provides a brief summary of the work of the controversial Indonesia/Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), which is due to report in February/March 2008.

Neil Campbell – An incident during my recent visit to Timor-Leste gave a useful insight into the difficult security conditions in the small, young and troubled independent state.

Dili – It was in October 2007 that 27-year-old Guillermina Freitas Corte Real entered Timor Leste national hospital in Dili, the capital city, for gall stone surgery.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – A truth commission into the violence in East Timor in 1999 risks becoming a "diplomatic charade" unless it delivers a strong and independent finding, a new report warns.

East Timor's Prime Minister wants international peacekeepers in his country to move away from security duties and focus instead on mentoring and training.

There are almost 800 New Zealand and Australian troops working on security duties in East Timor.

[Shakedown. By Paul Cleary. Allen & Unwin, 304pp, $29.95.]

Tim Johnston – The exercise of power is rarely a pretty thing to watch; but there is something particularly ugly in watching the inept exercise of power.

Anne Barker – Recent monsoonal rains and wind have caused serious damage to homes, buildings and crops across East Timor. There are fears the damage could threaten food supplies in the already vulnerable nation.

Relief authorities in East Timor say wet season rains have caused serious damage in 11 of the country's 13 districts.

Indonesia – The government of Timor Leste has yet to conclude arrangements for Indonesians wishing to reclaim their assets deserted in the country post the 1999 secession referendum, East Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor Frans Leburaya said Thursday.

East Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has refused to attend a scheduled court hearing to face murder and other charges related to a deadly outbreak of violence in 2006.

Mr Reinado escaped from jail in the capital, Dili, in August 2006 and has been on the run ever since.

Dili – East Timor's laws should be translated into the local Tetun language to give people a better understanding and respect for the law, according to one of the country's legal experts.

East Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has refused to attend a scheduled court hearing on Thursday to face murder and other charges related to a deadly outbreak of violence in 2006.

Reinado's lawyer Benevides Barros said the rebel leader would not submit to the judicial process until the government met several demands.

Dili – Most child street vendors work the streets daily selling snacks, soft drinks, cigarettes and sweets with a profit of about US$10 to US$15 a day.

Fifteen-year-old Dominggos Obe hawks colorful shaved ices from a three-wheeled cart in East Timor's capital, one of a stream of youths arriving here from his poor hometown seeking a better life.

Mark Dodd – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has threatened to arrest local journalists, claiming inaccurate news reporting in the troubled territory is contributing to national instability.

Mr Gusmao told reporters they faced arrest if they persisted with reporting as fact rumours and other unsourced claims.

East Timor's prosecutor general will not investigate claims the country's prime minister was behind deadly unrest that erupted in 2006, saying the allegations are "too political".

Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated the violence that plunged the country into crisis.

Thalif Deen, United Nations – The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), which monitors some 60 crisis-affected countries worldwide, has appealed for UN and international assistance to revitalize East Timor's fledgling police and armed services in order to avoid a potentially violent civil conflict in that relatively new nation state.

Dili – East Timor risks erupting in violence again if its government and the UN fail to quickly reform the country's security forces, which remain vulnerable to political abuse, a think-tank warned Friday.

Michael Heath – East Timor faces renewed violence unless it reorganizes the army and police, the International Crisis Group said, almost two years after clashes between security force factions drove 155,000 people from their homes.

Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor's president urged Timorese to pray for Suharto, the former Indonesian president who ordered the brutal invasion of East Timor in 1975 and who now lies critically ill in hospital.

There's been another twist in East Timor's increasingly bitter internal politics, with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri demanding that current prime minister Xanana Gusmao resign. Dr Alkatiri's demand follows claims from rebel leader Alfredo Reinado that Mr Gusmao orchestrated deadly unrest in 2006, in which at least 20 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed.

East Timor's former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated deadly unrest that erupted in 2006.

Nick Butterly and Joe Stolley in Canberra – The wife and children of slain East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado have been granted permanent residency in Australia after pleading with the Rudd Government to grant them political asylum.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – When Iraqi journalist Muntader Al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President George W. Bush it was to many, myself included, a deja vu.

Contents

Jill Joliffe – Families of victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor have found Christmas hope with a project to locate mass graves of youths who disappeared without trace.

Dili – East Timor's parliament has approved a state budget of nearly $350 million for 2008 that aims to improve security and tackle poverty in Asia's youngest nation.

Factional bloodshed broke out in the impoverished country of about 1 million people last year, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Thalif Deen, United Nations – When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his first official visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste) last week, he was conscious of the growing demands for accountability for crimes committed during Indonesia's invasion and subsequent occupation of that relatively new nation state.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – In East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.

Dili – A rebel soldier wanted on murder charges in East Timor has one "last chance" to surrender peacefully with his armed supporters or face the government's response, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said Sunday.