Dili – An army rebel who played a key role in the revolt that sent East Timor into chaos earlier this year held reconciliation talks with the defence chief on Thursday on the crisis that has beset the country and its security forces.

Janet Fyfe-Yeomans – Crack SAS troops were poised to launch a secret mission into East Timor to rescue the five Australians three days before their deaths, but were ordered to stand down.

Special forces soldiers were disgusted when the operation was called off and they learned that the five – all journalists – had been killed, according to sources.

Dili – More than 400 Christians have been sheltered in East Timor's capital, Dili's largest mosque since Friday, when fighting between rival gangs forced them to flee.

Hundreds of gang members battled with guns and machetes in East Timor's capital Dili today, officials and witnesses said, killing one and injuring two. A young man was shot dead near the city's largest mosque, apparently by a rival gang member, before UN police intervened, said UN police spokeswoman Monica Rodrigues.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – The world had been too optimistic about the early achievement of East Timor, the new boss of the United Nations mission in the tiny nation says.

Tom Hyland – Two mysteries have shrouded the deaths of five Australia-based newsmen, killed while reporting the Indonesian attack on the East Timorese town of Balibo 31 years ago.

The first – the broad circumstances of the killings – has largely been resolved, most recently by witness testimony to East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation.

Lisa Allan, Sydney – A NSW coroner says former intelligence workers may have important information about the deaths of the Balibo Five journalists in East Timor 30 years ago.

Janet Fife-Yeomans – Former prime minister Gough Whitlam should be forced to finally tell the truth about what his government knew of the fate of five young Australians killed in East Timor, an inquest heard yesterday.

East Timor activists are calling on Australian authorities to cooperate with an inquiry into the deaths of five journalists in Timor more than 30 years ago.

Dili – The political leaders of unrest-plagued East Timor on Sunday pledged to work together to return peace and order to the fledgling nation.

Hamish McDonald – A dramatic new lead into the deaths of five Australia-based newsmen in Balibo, East Timor, 31 years ago suggests they were captured and executed on the orders of Indonesian generals.

Canberra – New evidence claiming five journalists were executed by Indonesian troops in 1975 while working for Australian media was hearsay and might not be accepted in court, says an Indonesia expert.

Five young Australians were executed on the orders of Indonesian military chiefs, according to sensational evidence omitted from official government reports.

The statement by a top lawyer, George Brownbill, contradicts the official line that the five men, all journalists, were caught in a crossfire in Balibo while covering Indonesia's invasion of East Timor in 1975.

Dili – UN police have arrested 26 people on suspicion of involvement in deadly clashes between East Timor martial arts gangs that have left two people dead and six badly wounded, a spokeswoman said.

The UN police confirmed two people had been killed during ongoing clashes between rival martial arts groups which erupted on Sunday in the capital Dili.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Former East Timorese living in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, rallied at the local provincial administration office in Kupang on Monday, urging the government to compensate them for the assets they left behind in East Timor in 1999.

Dili – Rival martial arts gangs staged rolling battles across East Timor's capital today after weekend violence that reportedly saw a man hacked to death, and others critically injured.

Jakarta – A joint Indonesia-East Timor commission plans to question former Indonesian military chief Wiranto and other officers over the violence surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999.

Dili – East Timor's former interior minister will go on trial Thursday on allegations of arming a political hit squad with state weapons as the tiny nation descended into violence earlier this year, court officials and lawyers said.

Dili – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao on Tuesday said the worst was now over and his country was recovering from the outbreak of violence earlier this year which prompted the deployment of international peacekeepers.

John Loizou, Dili - The contrast between the physical presence of Cuba and the rest of the world in East Timor is as stark as the difference in the philosophies that divide them.

Cynthia Banham, Dili – The Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, has warned of an imminent humanitarian crisis in East Timor if camps for internally displaced people are not moved before the wet season.

One man has been killed and two others, including a policeman, injured during street violence in East Timor, Home Affairs Minister Alcino Barris says.

Mr Barris said that gang members and residents clashed in Maubisse, a town some 80 kilometres south of Dili, on Monday, leading to the death of one civilian.

Dili – A Brazilian missionary has been killed after being caught up in communal fighting in East Timor's capital, a UN spokeswoman and a government statement said on Monday.

Australians are getting a rare opportunity to learn about Timor-Leste and to better understand its story through Chega!, the Final Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR).

Dili – Four people are believed to have died in the latest East Timor violence which also saw 10 homes torched, Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta said today.

"There is as yet no confirmation on the number killed, but initial information said four (were killed) and 10 houses were set on fire," Mr Ramos Horta said.

Dili – Nearly 1,000 soldiers and police paraded on the streets of East Timor's capital Dili Wednesday in an apparent gesture of reconciliation after their differences contributed to unrest earlier this year.

Ellen Whinnett – East Timorese refugees say they have been threatened with visa cancellations if they do not support the Labor Party.

Several sources have told the Herald Sun that many members of the East Timorese community living in Richmond have been bullied by ALP officials, who ordered them to sign up as members or otherwise make cash donations.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – After months of violence, hundreds of youths from rival gangs have gathered on the streets of Dili to embrace each other, shed tears and celebrate a fragile peace.

"It seems that peace, not war, is breaking out in East Timor," the country's Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, said yesterday.

Amy Goodman – The troops marched slowly, their US-made M-16s raised. It was Nov. 12, 1991, a day that would forever be seared into my memory, and into history. I was reporting in East Timor, a small island nation 300 miles north of Australia, brutally occupied by Indonesia since 1975.

Hundreds of East Timorese youths, including members of rival gangs who fought each other in the streets of the capital earlier this year, have held a rally to promote unity and peace.

On the fifteenth anniversary of the massacre of over 270 East Timorese civilians by the Indonesian military, calls for justice and accountability continue for its victims and their families.

Dili – Timor Leste Prime Minister Jose Ramon Horta expressed gratitude to Cuba on Monday for providing medical training to almost 500 young people from that small insular Southeast Asian state.

On the fifteenth anniversary of the infamous massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Timor-Leste, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called for justice for its victims and their families, as well as the many others killed and victimized during Indonesia's invasion and occupation of the territory from 1975 to 1999.

Dili – More than 1,000 East Timorese gathered in the capital Dili on Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops fired on a memorial procession, killing more than 250 people.

Ben Terrall and John M. Miller – This November 12 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 1991 massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, East Timor (also called Timor-Leste).

On that day, Indonesian soldiers killed at least 271 East Timorese civilians nonviolently marching to demand a UN-supervised referendum after years of illegal Indonesian military occupation.

Lisbon – Timor Leste's former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, under investigation for his alleged role in violence that wracked the nation earlier this year, said Saturday that he believes there are plans to assassinate him and other members of his Fretilin party.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Deposed prime minister Mari Alkatiri has accused the Catholic Church's hierarchy in East Timor of being behind a conspiracy to destroy his Fretilin Government.

Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri has appeared under tight security escort at the General Prosecutor's Office for questioning over allegations of arming civilians during the May unrest.

Arriving in a government car under escort from several East Timorese security personnel and six Australian soldiers, Dr Alkatiri made no comment upon arrival.

Matthew Libbis – On 17 October, the United Nations's Independent Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste released its report into who was responsible for the violence of April and May this year. Fighting broke out in Dili the night after. It could almost have been an orchestrated exercise for the hundreds of international Joint Task Force (JTF) members who had arrived the day before.

James Dunn – For Prime Minister John Howard, the recent Pacific Forum meeting must have been a rather uncomfortable experience. It should also have been a learning experience, a warning that Australians cannot take these small states for granted.

Dili – Stone-throwing between two street-roaming youth gangs in the capital of East Timor Thursday marred an otherwise peaceful celebration of a major Catholic holiday in the tiny restive nation.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Gangs responsible for East Timor's violence, political intimidation, extortion and crime have been linked to powerful Timorese figures with political ambitions and the country's main political parties.

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – After centuries of Portuguese colonialism and more than two decades of Indonesian military occupation, instability and violence continue to plague East Timor, simultaneously one of the world's newest and poorest nations.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The East Timorese Government has ordered a crackdown on activists behind a campaign aimed at denigrating Australian security forces in Dili and fuelling anti-Australian sentiment.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Australian embassy officials and staff in Dili have tightened their security as unidentified people spread rumours that appear to be aimed at provoking attacks against Australians in East Timor.

Matthew B Arnold – With America's adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan faltering and United Nations peace-keeping missions stretched thin and struggling from Haiti to the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the world is looking for proof that "interventionism" can produce positive results, especially for the longer term.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The commander of East Timor's army has called for an investigation into the behaviour of Australian troops in Dili, including claims they have taken sides in the conflict that plunged the country into violent upheaval.

Lindsay Murdoch – Security forces in East Timor fear violence will dramatically escalate in Dili after the execution of a leader of one of East Timor's biggest gangs. The martial arts gang leader was shot in the head on a Dili street, where for weeks rival gangs have fought fiercely.

Dili – East Timor's Bishop Carlos Belo has reportedly held meetings with a rebel leader and key politicians named in a damning UN report on the country's violence to try to stop the ongoing unrest.

Two men were stabbed to death after evening prayers in East Timor, a hospital director said, in the latest violence to disrupt the tiny nation since foreign peacekeepers arrived in May.

Four other people were injured in the fighting on Sunday night between rival gangs in the capital, Dili, Antonio Caleres, director of the Dili National Hospital, told The Associated Press.