Dili – East Timor will use a fraction of its oil fund worth over $2 billion to protect the poor from rising food and fuel prices, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said on Thursday.

Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta is confident about his young country's future, despite lingering poverty and swirling mistrust over rebel attacks three months ago that left him near death.

Rebels who attacked the East Timorese leadership in February were trying to seize control of the country, President Jose Ramos-Horta says.

Dili – East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta said Wednesday he had slashed the seven-year jail sentence handed out to a former minister for distributing weapons during violent unrest in 2006.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timorese citizens are celebrating the sixth anniversary of their independence today, but with an edge of uncertainty about their political and economic future.

Dili – It is 8am and Star King in Dili, Timor-Leste's capital, is about to open. For most of the year, Star King, a dimly lit warehouse that sells tinned milk, noodles and cooking oil, is a store among a dozen just like it. But today police have been called to help manage the 100 or so anxious people waiting outside.

Dili – East Timor is set to celebrate six years of independence Tuesday, with bursting national pride and dreams for the future contending with the harsh realities of poverty, violence and instability.

Dili – East Timor's army will receive military training from Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil and Portugal as part of a military pact signed between the countries today.

Defence ministers of eight Portuguese-speaking countries signed the military agreement in former Portuguese colony East Timor's capital, Dili, in a bid to prevent conflict in their regions.

We will see how serious Kevin Rudd is in bringing the Balibo Five case to its logical conclusion, writes Paul Daley.

A week before the last election, Kevin Rudd placed on record his unambiguous views about a crime that many Australians have come to regard as perhaps the most shameful recent episode in Australian diplomacy.

Dili – The advantages of Cuban basic reading and writing teaching method Yes, I Can, which combines the student's basic learning primer with video classes, outstood here Saturday on occasion of the National Reading Day in this capital.

Paul Toohey – Xanana Gusmao, his Australian wife Kirsty and their kids haven't been back to their home in the hills overlooking the East Timorese capital, Dili, since the morning of February 11, when his prime ministerial convoy was ambushed by a group of rebels. The family will never return to that home.

[The following comment was posted on the East Timor list in response to a May 14 report that appeared in Green Left Weekly titled "East Timor: Governing coalition on brink of collapse".]

The factual inaccuracy of this report is worrying. The AMP government is not on the "brink of collapse". It may be challenged next year – the "brink" is still some way off.

Paul Toohey – The UN will wait until February to consider whether it will continue its peacekeeping mission in East Timor, despite President Jose Ramos Horta asking it to commit until at least 2012.

Mr Ramos Horta, still recovering from being shot in February, views his country as volatile despite the apparent calm following the surrender of rebels a fortnight ago.

Stephanie March – The United Nations in East Timor is on the defensive after being lambasted by its own top lawyer in New York for hiring disgraced former defence minister, Roque Rodrigues, as a presidential security adviser.

Tony Iltis – A realignment of political forces appears to be underway in East Timor, with the signing of an agreement for a strategic alliance for future elections between the largest party in parliament, the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin), and the Timorese Social Democratic Association (ASDT) – the second largest party in the coalition of non-Fretilin part

High food and oil prices will put thousands in the Pacific at risk this year and could spark fresh violence in East Timor, an economist has found.

The family of the lover of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has called on the Australian government to withhold aid to East Timor until she is "charged or exonerated".

Angelita Pires, 33, was the first person to be arrested over the February 11 attacks on President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Dili – The government's attempt to hold on to power is dangerously depleting the country's reserve of rice and could lead to social disorder, claimed an analyst.

Loro Horta said prime minister Xanana Gusmao should immediately create a more effective food distribution system and change the way he is managing the emergency stock of rice.

Arnaldo Musa – East Timorese Foreign Minister Zacarias Albano da Costa met with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in Havana where he thanked the country for its continuous support of East Timor, "even under the most difficult circumstances."

Fabio Scarpello, Denpasar – Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's already fragile government has been dealt a blow with the defection of a coalition partner to the opposition Fretilin, leaving it relying on independents.

Paul Toohey – Xanana Gusmao's Timorese Government is heading close to collapse as parties in his ruling Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) coalition turn against him and leave the door open for Fretilin, the party with the biggest majority, to form its own coalition.

Presenter: Monica Attard

A tale of East Timor's struggle for independence through the eyes of child resistance fighter - Naldo Rei.

Monica Attard: Hello, you've joined Sunday Profile and I'm Monica Attard. This week we're speaking to Naldo Rei, whose personal account of growing up amid East Timor's clandestine resistance movement has just been published in Australia.

Thorny issues from the past have often derailed relations between Timor Leste and its former master Indonesia. Timor Leste Prime Minister Kayrala Xanana Gusmao, on an official visit to Indonesia, discussed with The Jakarta Post's Riyadi Suparno and Matheos V. Messakh bilateral issues and the future of Timor Leste. What follows are excerpts:

Eleanor Hall: It's more than 30 years since five Australian based newsmen were shot dead at Balibo in East Timor.

Few deaths have caused so much controversy in Australia for so long – with several parliamentary inquiries and last year's coronial inquest which found that Indonesian soldiers executed the men as they invaded the former Portuguese territory from West Timor.

Jakarta – The joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) announced Wednesday it had completed its final report on human rights violations committed during the 1999 independence vote in East Timor.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – As East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta convalesces in Dili, some of his compatriots perhaps are wishing he had taken a while longer to recuperate, not least among them Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

East Timorese authorities hosted an alcohol-fuelled party for a band of rebels after they surrendered for trying to assassinate the nation's top leaders.

The soiree for the 12 rebels, including their leader Gastao Salsinha, was held at the joint headquarters of the police and military, hours after the men gave themselves up in Dili on Tuesday.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has expressed regret for publicly accusing Indonesian elements of being involved in an assassination attempt against him, the neighboring country's prime minister said here Tuesday.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Timor Leste and Indonesia agreed Tuesday to greater cooperation on many issues, with the leaders of the two nations expressing a commitment to preserving good bilateral ties.

The agreement followed a meeting between visiting Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Paul Toohey – East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday came face to face with and shook the hand of the rebel he believes shot him on February 11 at a formal surrender ceremony in Dili that marked the end of a two-year rebellion.

Loro Horta, Dili – With its political and security institutions in shambles, East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, is now emerging as a soft landing spot for regional organized crime syndicates.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Justice for the victims of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor appeared more remote than ever on Tuesday after the two nations' leaders said they would draw a line under the past and forge a relationship focused on co-operation.

Tito Belo, Dili – The leader of a group of East Timor rebels accused of trying to assassinate President Jose Ramos-Horta surrendered on Tuesday, raising hopes that the troubled young nation can find some rare stability.

John McBeth – When Mr Xanana Gusmao pays his first visit to Indonesia as Timor Leste's Prime Minister next week, the former guerilla leader and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will have plenty to talk about – including possibly an Indonesian television talk show called Kick Andi.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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 – 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.

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 – 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.

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 – 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.

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.

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.