Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his strongest indication yet that Australian troops will remain in East Timor until 2009.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta will tell Kevin Rudd today that he expects Australian troops to stay in the country for at least another year.

Dili – Australia's prime minister and the United Nations chief on Friday pledged continued support for East Timor to ensure peace and stability in the tiny nation.

Dili – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he'd discussed the 1975 deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

NSW Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch last month found the Balibo Five were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops to cover up the invasion of East Timor.

The Rudd government appears to be backing away from any government involvement in prosecutions relating to the death of five Australian-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975.

Last month, NSW deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch found the men, known as the Balibo Five, were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops in 1975 to cover up the invasion of East Timor.

Ian Munro – East Timor is pressing for an extension of the United Nations mission (UNMIT) to support the country's fledgling democracy.

While the country's political and security situation was calm and stable, it was also fragile according to the leader of the council's mission to East Timor, South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo.

Fabio Scarpello – The diminutive Maria Ana Pereira, 28, does not look for excuses. The widow simply accepts that life is tough in Hudi Laram, a neighbourhood southwest of East Timor's capital, Dili, where she is struggling to raise her seven children.

Actor Anthony LaPaglia says he expects his new film Balibo, about five Australian-based newsmen killed in 1975 in East Timor, to cause some controversy when it is released.

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Timor Leste's President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday Sunday (2/12) urged the Republic of Indonesia to apologize and take responsibility for the killing of six foreign journalists in Balibo, East Timor in 1975.

Calls have gone out in East Timor for the rebel soldier Alfredo Reinado to surrender to authorities.

The former commander of the military police remains on the run after escaping from custody at the height of East Timor's crisis last year, which left at least 30 people dead and more than 100,000 homeless.

Bruce Gale, Senior Writer – "There were no crimes against humanity in East Timor" in 1999, retired Lieutenant-General Kiki Syahnakri told a hearing of the joint Indonesian-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) late last month.

Dili – A senior UN official said Friday East Timor will continue to need the presence of the United Nations in the country for some time to come.

Dili – Four East Timorese soldiers were convicted of murder and sentenced to up to 12 years in prison Thursday for gunning down unarmed police officers during a spasm of violence in the fledgling democracy last year.

An open letter from a worldwide coalition of human rights organizations has called on the UN Security Council to act for substantive justice for the East Timorese people, as a council delegation travels to Timor-Leste. The East Timorese suffered countless war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Indonesian military's illegal occupation.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Little news basically came from Sydney's Coroner Court inquest into the deaths of Australian-based journalists in Balibo, East Timor (1975) – except that it established a much stronger case based on detailed evidence and witness testimony. The Indonesian government needs to respond to this seriously.

Havana – Timor Leste's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, thanked Cuba for its cooperation in the field education through the "Yes, I can" teaching method which has been widely implemented in that nation in southeast Asia.

The United Nations police say the security situation in East Timor is generally calm, despite nine incidents in Dili this week alone.

Damien Kingsbury – The finding by the NSW deputy state coroner that the five Australia-based newsmen killed at Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 were murdered by the Indonesian military has the potential to again derail Australia's often fraught relationship with Indonesia.

Funeral records suggest the remains of only four of the five Australian newsmen killed in East Timor 32 years ago are in a grave bearing their names.

Both the Coalition and Labor have committed to repatriation of the bodies of the five men, known as the Balibo Five.

Hamish McDonald – In the blame game of Balibo, the state coronial inquest yesterday put responsibility onto the five journalist victims for refusing opportunities to escape their danger, and the Indonesian military for executing them.

East Timor's leader has called on Indonesia to take responsibility for the 1975 killing of five foreign reporters.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta says Indonesia must assume with courage and responsibility what happened," claiming the reporters had been "captured alive and killed."

Clinton Fernandes – The NSW Coroner's inquest concluded yesterday into the deaths of five journalists at the border town of Balibo in East Timor in October 1975 was the first independent judicial inquiry with the power to compel witnesses.

Hamish McDonald – After 32 years of secrecy, the killing of the Balibo Five newsmen has been branded a war crime, and Australia may launch prosecutions against the Indonesian soldiers involved.

Saul Amaral – After seven years of independence, Timor Leste is still the poorest country in Asia and the 27th most impoverished country in the world. According to the 2007 Timor National Media Survey 82 percent of the population is still living in poverty.

Next Australian prime minister urged to ensure murderers are tried in Australia

The NSW Coroner, Dorelle Pinch has just released her judgment in the inquest held earlier this year into the deaths of the five Australian based journalists at Balibo in East Timor in 1975. One of the five, photographer Gary Cunningham, was a New Zealander.

Amy Coopes, Sydney – As forces from West Timor spilled into the Balibo town square on the morning of October 16, 1975, two Australian-based newsmen looked on, their cameras fixed on a helicopter as it swooped overhead.

It was a piece of footage which may have sealed their fate – incontrovertible evidence that Indonesia was invading East Timor.

Prime Minister John Howard says he is taking advice on what the Government can do in relation to a coroner's finding that five Australian-based journalists were deliberately killed in East Timor 32 years ago.

Indonesia says the case of the Balibo Five is closed and insists an Australian coroner's claim its soldiers may have committed war crimes won't damage relations between the countries.

Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao began talks with former soldiers whose dismissal sparked protests that led to bloodshed in the tiny country last year.

In June 2006 the government of then-prime minister Mari Alkatiri sacked 600 soldiers, more than one third of the country's defence force, after they had lodged a petition alleging discrimination in the institution.

The current coroner's inquest into the death of an Australian-based journalist killed by Indonesian troops in October 1975 highlights "the need to pursue justice for the many tens of thousands killed during Indonesia's illegal invasion and occupation of East Timor," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN).

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Thousands of Timor Leste citizens commemorated yesterday (12/11) the tragedy of November 12, 1991 when Indonesian soldiers fired on a crowd of youths in Santa Cruz cemetery, Dili. Around 200 people died then, but most of the victims' graves have not been found.

Jose Sarito Amaral, Dili – Thousands of Timor Leste citizens commemorated yesterday (12/11) the tragedy of 12 November 1991, when Indonesian soldiers fired on a crowd of youths in Santa Cruz cemetery, Dili. Around 200 people died then, but most of the victims' graves have not been found.

The report from a coronial inquest into the Balibo Five deaths is handed down next week. Mal Walden recounts the gut-wrenching day he heard the news.

October 15, 1975, late in the day, and the shrill ringing of a telephone shattered the silence of Channel Seven's almost-empty newsroom.

New York – The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) today released a report showing progress in promoting human rights in the nascent country while calling for further measures to help displaced persons and prevent impunity.

Jakarta – Indonesia insists the Balibo Five case is closed, despite fresh reports that a telegram sent by an Australian Government minister revealed the five journalists were murdered in East Timor.

The truth about the murder of five journalists at Balibo on October 16, 1975, in the lead-up to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor is one of the longest and saddest cases of government abuse of Australians' right to know.

Tony Iltis – In 1975, when Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a 24-year occupation that cost over 200,000 Timorese lives (over a third of the population), Australia's support for this genocidal occupation was predicated on a policy outlined in the infamous "Woolcott telegram": that Australia's interest in East Timor was derived from the oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.

Sydney – A telegram sent from a minister just days after the Balibo Five were killed in East Timor revealed they had been murdered, and proved the government was engaged in a cover-up, one of their widows says.

Geraldine Willesee – The nightmare of East Timor followed my father to his deathbed. "Two hundred thousand dead... 200,000." A lifetime of politics poured into a single nugget of horror. "Two hundred thousand dead."

Dan Box – Whitlam era foreign minister Don Willesee believed the Balibo Five were "murdered" by Indonesian soldiers and in his dying days told his daughter the Australian government had conspired to keep news of the deaths from the victims' families.

Peter Ker, Sydney – East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta has weighed into the 2007 federal election campaign by passionately endorsing a direct opponent of Prime Minister John Howard in the Sydney electorate of Bennelong.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) will ignore UN criticism and focus on finalizing its report without testimonials from officials of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).

A former diplomat has slammed public servants' "willingness to lie", after an investigation into claims he was pressured to break the law ended because of a lack of evidence.

The Greens have used the case to push for a whistleblowers' authority independent from the bureaucracy.

Annolies Truman – Two thousand people rallied in the East Timorese capital of Dili on October 17 to demand food sovereignty for East Timor. The demonstration was the culmination of three days of activities to mark World Food Day.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Members of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) may decide by vote if gross violations of human rights occurred before and after the 1999 referendum in East Timor if they fail to reach a consensus on the matter.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – A commission investigating bloodshed during East Timor's 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia will offer United Nations officials another chance to testify, its co-chairman said on Friday.

Abdul Khalik and Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) is moving closer toward submitting its conclusions about alleged human rights abuses in Timor Leste, with its final public hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – The United Nations and Portugal must share responsibility for violence that marred East Timor's 1999 vote for independence, a former general told a truth commission investigating the bloodshed.