The Australian Defence Department has rejected allegations that six Australian soldiers beat a civilian Timorese security guard in Dili last Sunday.

A Fretilin party MP reportedly told East Timor's Parliament that the guard was beaten by the soldiers at a government warehouse. The MP also said two other people were assaulted by the Australian troops.

Dili – East Timor's major political party Fretilin has called on President Jose Ramos Horta to dismiss the Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro following new evidence that he conspired to bring down the former Fretilin government.

Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – Mario Goncalves hides a missing earlobe below his white hair because East Timor is independent.

Goncalves' brother – whose son was behind the injury – told Goncalves he would pay for corrective surgery if the 1999 referendum showed that most Timorese wanted to stick with Indonesia.

Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has sworn in the country's State Council, saying the advisory body faced the challenge of restoring stability to the young nation.

Speaking in Portuguese, one of the country's two official languages, Ramos-Horta said there were "many priorities which will soon have to be on the agenda of the state advisors."

Nelson da Cruz, Dili – Jacinta Barros, an East Timorese mother of eight, sits on a bed in her new temporary home, a one-room affair that sleeps 13 of her relatives, refugees from unrest last year who still cannot go home.

By day, the spartan room bakes in the searing tropical sun and by night it gets chilly as a wind blows under the eaves where ceilings should be.

Marianne Kearney, Dili – At a camp behind the Lucidere Monastery in Dili, more than 50 families are crowded into what was once the monastery's garden.

By January, Indonesia and Timor Leste should have a shared acknowledgement of the violence-filled year of 1999. During the recent public hearings of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) in Dili, The Jakarta Post's Ati Nurbaiti talked to Lt. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo, the only commission member with a background in the Indonesian Military.

Marianne Kearney – East Timorese youths have been paid to kill people during periods of political unrest, a Catholic priest has alleged.

Father Martinho Gusmao has told The Courier-Mail that provocateurs have a graded scale of fees for for rock throwing, burning houses and murder. His information comes from hearing the confessions of dozens of youths.

Organize by Sec. FONGTIL with Members: HAK Association, FOKUPERS, FTM, ESPADA, HCTL, Katilosa, KSUTL, GFFL, MBC-TL, HAPOTI, JSMP, Caritas Australia, Lao Hamutuk, Luta Hamutuk, Includes ICTJ, ETCRN, ANTI and Front Mahsiswa Timor Leste

Timor Leste – Indonesia

Dili, 8 October 2007

Dear Atul Khare
SRSG For Timor Leste

Dili – East Timor's parliament on Saturday passed a transitional period budget proposal of 112 million dollars on a split decision.

Lindsay Murdoch – A former East Timorese guerilla at the centre of allegations that forced Fretilin prime minister Mari Alkatiri from office last year has been arrested in Dili.

Dili – A former East Timorese guerrilla fighter was arrested on Wednesday and charged in connection with deadly unrest that flared here last year, the United Nations mission said.

Jon Lamb – Human rights activists from East Timor and Indonesia have slammed the latest round of the Indonesia-East Timor Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF), which began hearings in Dili on September 24.

In East Timor, the Truth and Friendship Commission has wound up its public hearings. The joint Indonesian and Timorese Commission was established to uncover the truth behind the violence surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999.

By Charles Scheiner, Dili, Timor-Leste

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Indonesia and Timor Leste still have to settle the cases of 81 children who were separated from their parents after the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) handed them over in 2005, a social services official said.

Garry Maddox – Anthony LaPaglia will star in a film telling the story of the five newsmen who were shot dead in East Timor in 1975.

Agung Yudhawiranata, Jakarta – The Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) involving Timor Leste and Indonesia is organizing the fifth in its series of public hearings in Dili from Sept. 24-27.

Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – A former pro-integration leader told a public hearing here Wednesday that many Timorese civilians were forced by poverty to join pro-Indonesian militias.

Ati Nurbaiti, Dili – A Timor Leste government official who said he was once a "double agent" in East Timor's resistance movement and the Indonesian Military, claimed offers of financial aid and weapons were made by Indonesian generals to "pro-integration" Timorese.

Indonesia was responsible for the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999, a former pro-Jakarta militia chief told a commission set up to investigate the violence at a hearing.

Pro-Indonesian militiamen went on a violent rampage before and after the UN-sponsored vote that ended 24 years of Jakarta rule in the former Portuguese colony.

Dili – An East Timorese who was a pro-Indonesia activist during the tiny nation's 1999 independence vote said Wednesday that Indonesia's military should be held responsible for violence occurring then.

Dili – About 50 people demonstrated in East Timor's capital today, calling for an international tribunal to try individuals who committed atrocities during the vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Jon Lamb – On September 12, the new East Timorese government led by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, tabled the Government Program for 2007-12. The coalition Parliamentary Majority Alliance (AMP) believes the program will help alleviate poverty and resolve internal unrest and security issues.

Paul Cleary – For a country controlling a maritime region of 15 million square kilometres – more than twice the size of its landmass – Australia has limited powers to stop unlawful exploitation of creatures such as endangered whales and fish, and the resources found underneath the seabed.

Chad Bouchard, Jakarta – Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao testified behind closed doors Monday on what he knew about the unrest that accompanied East Timor's vote to separate from Indonesian rule in 1999.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF) is scheduled to hold its final hearing today, which could see Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao testify, along with several other key witnesses.

East Timor's government fears a jailed former minister, allowed to leave the country for medical care, won't return to serve his sentence for arming hit squads during last year's unrest.

The government has also flagged a possible corruption inquiry related to the case of the former Fretilin government's interior minister Rogerio Lobato.

Denpasar – East Timor's president on Friday brushed off a UN threat to boycott a commission charged with examining violence surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote, an official said.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF) due to hold its final hearing Monday, critics are asking if its findings will have any credibility with the victims or the international community.

Tito Belo, Dili – Chinese businessmen want to invest more than $100 million in East Timor over the next 10 years in a range of sectors from banking to agriculture, a Chinese business delegation said on Friday.

The Democratic Socialist Perspective (DSP), a Marxist tendency in the Socialist Alliance, is now calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Australian troops from East Timor. A meeting of the DSP National Committee resolved to investigate the prospects for building a public campaign around this demand.

The United Nations says authorities in East Timor have arrested five national police officers and two civilians over suspected involvement in arson attacks in the east during anti-government protests.

The outcome of Timor Leste's parliamentary election could be seen as a political victory for former President and now Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Some factors are running in his favour; but there are substantial challenges.

Maryann Keady – The current situation in East Timor makes me think of my first year American Politics essay: 'The American President as Actor; the American Actor as President: Discuss'. With Ronald Reagan at the helm, it wasn't difficult to write 10,000 words.

Avid East Timor-watchers of the past few years can be summed up in three ways:

Dili – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged to prioritise security as he read out his plans for governingthe tiny nation over the next five years to parliament on Thursday.

Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao pledged on Thursday to improve security and use funds earned from rich energy reserves to tackle poverty as he set out his new government's priorities for the tiny nation.

Jakarta – East Timor's new government will not last beyond two years because of mounting friction among its coalition parties, ex-prime minister Mari Alkatiri said in an interview published here Wednesday.

Alice Coster, Jakarta – The ruling Timor Leste government is "illegitimate" and "illegal", said former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, but building stronger relations with Indonesia based on truth was crucial.

Jakarta – Secretary General of Timor Leste's Fretilin Party Mari Alkatiri visited the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) headquarters Monday in an attempt to foster relationships between the two parties.

Evelyn Leopold, United Nations – The UN Security Council called on East Timor to refrain from further violence after mayhem erupted when independence leader Xanana Gusmao became prime minister last month.

The former head of the Defence Intelligence Organisation falsely claimed he did not know the flow of intelligence to Australian troops in East Timor had been deliberately cut, the ACT Supreme Court was told yesterday.

Tito Belo, Dili – The United Nations mission in East Timor may be extended by another five years from 2008 to oversee the revamp of the young nation's fragile security forces, its chief said on Monday.

The top UN official in East Timor said Thursday the fledgling country that gained its independence five years ago remains fragile but is no "failed state" as recurring political turmoil and street violence have led some to believe.

Hamish McDonald – A wealthy businessman will spend nearly $500,000 trying to get Asia-Pacific leaders to focus on human rights abuses this week.

Paul Cleary – Four years ago, then premier (of Victoria State) Steve Bracks led a solemn procession through the main street of Balibo, East Timor, wearing the headdress and rainbow-coloured skirt of a Timorese king. At his side, and in the same garb, was the hero of East Timor's long struggle for independence, Xanana Gusmao.

Roderick Campbell – The Defence Intelligence Organisation's former director denied yesterday claims of a cover-up over a cut in intelligence to Australian troops in East Timor.

[Andre Vltcheck interviewed Mari Alkatiri on September 13, in the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. Alkatiri was the first prime minister of East Timor, serving from May 2002 until June 26, 2006.]

Q: What is the relationship status between Indonesia and East Timor right now?

Dili – Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer arrived in East Timor on Thursday for a one-day visit on the anniversary of the tiny neighbouring nation's 1999 independence vote.

Tony Iltis – Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called for the withdrawal of Australian troops from his country. Speaking to Agence France-Presse on august 20, he said: "It would be better for Australian troops to just return home if they cannot be neutral.