Tim Johnston – East Timor used to be the poster child for international intervention, but a report published this week by a group of United Nations investigators illustrates just how shallow the veneer of success was and just how difficult getting the country back on track is going to be.

The East Timorese Government was handed a heaven-sent opportunity this week to begin the long overdue process of healing the rifts so vividly exposed by last May's wave of violence.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Mick Slater, the commander of Australia's peacekeeping force in Dili, has revealed that he could not arrest East Timor's most wanted fugitive, Alfredo Reinado, during a secret meeting in the mountains last week because he was outnumbered.

Reports on violence in East Timor have tended, in the past, to be followed by inaction.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri failed to stop weapons being distributed to civilians and should face a criminal investigation, a UN inquiry has found.

Mark Dodd – A UN inquiry into the causes of deadly violence in East Timor earlier this year has accused President Xanana Gusmao of inflaming tensions which brought the country to the brink of civil war.

The long-awaited UN report has also recommended former prime minister Mari Alkatiri face a criminal investigation over alleged weapons offences.

Lirio da Fonseca, Dili – East Timor's prime minister stood by the chief of the armed forces on Wednesday, after a UN inquiry called for his prosecution over the arming of civilians during a wave of violence in the tiny nation in May.

Jakarta – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the East Timorese today to accept the conclusions of an inquiry by the world body into deadly violence that rocked Dili earlier this year.

But context of recent violence needs greater attention

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) today praised the work of the UN's Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the violence in Timor-Leste last April and May.

Canberra – East Timor's parliament will next month consider ratifying a revenue sharing treaty with Australia covering Timor Sea energy resources that would remove one of the stumbling blocks to the development of a major oil and gas project, East Timor's prime minister said Thursday.

Reporter: Anne Barker

Peter Cave: The Brussels based International Crisis Group has warned that a United Nations report on the political and security crisis in East Timor will be explosive and may touch off another round of serious violence. The UN report is due out within days, and is expected to name those responsible for the recent turmoil.

Mark Dodd and Sid Marris – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao and his former prime minister Mari Alkatiri have been singled out for criticism in a report from the UN into the violence last April.

The wide-ranging report is understood to be a brutal assessment of the breakdown of control that culminated in an Australian-led peacekeeping force being deployed.

Lisbon – East Timor's deposed prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, rejected Thursday a report by a conflict-prevention group which recommended that he and President Xanana Gusmao sit out next year's general election to reduce tensions in Asia's newest nation.

Table of contents

Executive summary

Recommendations

I. Introduction

II. Implications of resistance-era splits

Reporter: Tony Jones

Tony Jones: Well, we're joined now by the East Timorese Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, and, as you've seen, he's just come from delivering the Hal Wooten lecture at the law faculty of the University of New South Wales. As we said earlier, he'll be meeting the Prime Minister John Howard on Thursday. Thank you for joining us, Jose Ramos Horta.

An oil company behind allegations that East Timor's former prime minister accepted bribes from oil giant ConocoPhillips, says banking records in Darwin could be destroyed before the case goes to trial.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Giving jobs to some 600 military rebels whose dismissal triggered deadly violence in East Timor this year is crucial to resolving a crisis there, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report on Tuesday.

East Timor will need to tackle security sector reform to get back on track after deadly unrest earlier this year, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report.

The tiny four-year-old nation descended into chaos in April and May after the government's dismissal of more than a third of its armed forces, who deserted their barracks complaining of discrimination.

Dili – East Timor violence could return to East Timor ahead of general elections next year, a conflict-prevention group warned Tuesday, recommending that the country's president and former prime minister sit out the polls to help reduce tensions.

Dili – East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao expressed on Thursday his gratitude for the Cuban medical and education cooperation in his nation and pleaded for its continued development and expansion to other fields.

Helen Hill – If accurate, recent revelations by John Martinkus about East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao are disturbing but not altogether unexpected.

Carmela Baranowska – When the Australian Federal Police (AFP) fired tear gas towards the refugee camp, the young men who had launched the initial attack with stones and bows and arrows had already fled. But they had run away from the refugees in the opposite direction and not towards the camp.

With their leaders continuing to bicker over their political differences, there's no end in sight to the troubles of the hapless East Timorese. The conflict goes on, albeit sporadically these days, though just last week, the ruling Fretilin Party's headquarters in Dili were torched. But what about the ordinary East Timorese?

The U-N mission in East Timor has been thrown into disarray with the appointment of the new mission chief revoked. Antonio Macarenhas Monteiro was appointed as Timor's new UN envoy earlier this month to replace the outgoing Sukehiro Hasegawa. That leaves Timor without a U-N head of mission and the timing couldn't be worse, with more violence on the streets of Dili this week.

Dili – Unidentified men set the Dili headquarters of East Timor's main political party Fretilin on fire today, but there were no casualties, a member of the fire brigade said.

The fire partially gutted the office building and spread to three nearby homes, sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air.

Lindsay Murdoch – The man appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to head a new mission in East Timor has decided not to take the job, in a setback for plans to help the country recover from months of violence.

Dili – International police in East Timor fired tear gas to disperse groups of youths fighting on the streets of the capital today and later arrested some at a refugee camp, witnesses said.

This week The Australian published an opinion piece by Mark Aarons attacking journalist John Martinkus, and New Matilda, for articles we have published on the recent violence in East Timor.

Paul Alexander, United Nations – East Timor needs fair elections, reconciliation and a big injection of international aid to overcome the recent violence that battered the fledgling nation, Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres said Wednesday.

East Timor's police force has begun returning to work in the capital Dili. It is the first time this has happened since the city descended into violence earlier this year.

Mark Aarons – East Timor remains unstable, although much calmer than in May and June when it was racked with civil strife. Non-aligned Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has begun to put the Government on a stable course, given the shambles he inherited from Fretilin's Mari Alkatiri.

Dili – Violence erupted on the streets of the East Timorese capital today as two groups pelted each other with stones, forcing residents in the area to flee their homes.

The disturbance occurred between two groups of youths from different regions of East Timor near the Comoro market at about 2pm local time, witnesses said.

Emma – There were emotional scenes as an East Timorese family were deported from Darwin yesterday. Epifano Faculto, 32, his wife Susette and two children – Willy, 6, and two-year-old Lelanlia – were flown home to Dili.

John Martinkus – Two weeks ago we revealed written orders from East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao to the rebel commander Alfredo Reinado that showed a close relationship between the two at the height of the crisis in Dili in May this year. That was followed by front-page revelations in The Australian that Gusmao paid at least a share of Reinado's hotel bill during the crisis.

John Martinkus – Violence that ran over four days in May in East Timor and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was part of a plan instigated by the President Xanana Gusmao, according to new claims in Dili.

Dili – A UN team probing the violence that erupted in East Timor earlier this year is on track to complete its report by next month, the commissioners said Wednesday on their second visit to the tiny nation.

International police deployed to East Timor in the wake of unrest in May have formally handed over their authority to the United Nations during a ceremony in the capital.

Some 554 police now fall under the control of the new UN mission in East Timor which was set up by the Security Council last month, according to a mission spokeswoman.

Mark Dodd – Alfredo Reinado, the East Timorese army deserter whose actions ultimately led to the ousting of prime minister Mari Alkatiri, has allegedly received financial help from the country's President.

Australian East Timor activists say the Federal Government's decision to send a group of 42 refugees back to the country does not make sense because East Timor is still unstable.

The 42 East Timorese have been living in Melbourne and Darwin for the last three months on temporary protection visas, after they fled their home to escape civil unrest earlier this year.

Canberra – Lawmakers criticized the government Saturday for forcing 42 East Timorese who fled violence in the capital Dili in May to return to their homeland.

The 42 men, women and children were told Friday that they have until midnight Monday to go home, an Immigration Department spokeswoman said Saturday.

Peacekeepers have fired tear gas to stop fighting at a refugee camp in the East Timorese capital of Dili, in the latest unrest to hit the tiny territory.

Eye-witnesses say dozens of youths armed with slingshots and stones have attacked a refugee camp opposite the United Nations headquarters.

Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timor's most wanted man, Australian-trained army rebel Alfredo Reinado, appealed yesterday for international forces in the country not to treat him as a criminal.

Major Reinado, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in the south of East Timor, said he was continually on the move and had no immediate intention of turning himself in.

George Quinn – It is hard to describe the air of lassitude that lies like a twilight over Dili. Pigs rifle through piles of rubbish. Grass runs wild in gardens and sprouts in wiry tufts through cracks in the pavements. A haze of smoke rises from cooking fires in the squalid camps where tens of thousands of people now shelter.

Leo Shanahan – East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has vowed not to give himself up and says he is willing to shoot at Australian troops.

Reinado was contacted at his jungle hide-out by SBS program Dateline last night, but refused to confirm his location because "there are Australian troops hunting me around, chasing me around".

It has been a week now since East Timor's most wanted man, rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado with 56 other prisoners somehow managed to just walk out of Dili's jail, it has to be said, under extremely curious circumstances. As it happens, Dateline's David O'Shea was with Reinado and got caught in the cross-fire when the rebel leader fired the first shots of the violence.

A quick visit to Dili has sobered the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer. Before setting off there, Mr Downer was jawboning the East Timorese about acting as an independent country which should take responsibility for its problems, "not just expect the international community indefinitely to solve all those problems for them".

John Martinkus – What appear to be written orders from East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao to rebel former soldier Alfredo Reinado confirm the close relationship the now escaped criminal – who is wanted for murder and weapons offences – had with the President.

Lindsay Murdoch – The East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has obtained weapons since he led a mass escape from Dili's main jail last week, his lawyer said yesterday.

Australia will continue providing military support to help maintain security in East Timor, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday, amid renewed concerns about stability in the fledgling nation.

Downer was speaking after holding three-country talks with East Timor's leaders and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda.

Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and agencies – East Timor's Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has warned that voters' hostility towards the ruling Fretilin party could make his country difficult to govern after next year's election.

Mr Ramos Horta says that Fretilin, which he helped to form two decades ago, needs to quickly heal deep divisions and find new leadership.