Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – A former pro-Jakarta militia leader on Thursday began serving a 10-year jail sentence in connection with the 1999 violence in East Timor as the United Nations Security Council prepared to discuss on Friday extending the mandate of a UN mission to the world's newest nation.

Dili – When East Timorese guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao languished in an Indonesian jail, Australian activist and English teacher Kirsty Sword was a crucial link to his fighters and the outside world.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Hundreds of sacked soldiers whose anti-Government protests erupted in violence have fled into East Timor's mountains, where many of them spent years waging a guerilla war against Indonesian troops.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Thousands of East Timorese were pouring into makeshift refugee camps in Dili last night, fearful of being murdered in an outbreak of ethnic violence.

Dili – Troops have fanned out across the East Timorese capital Dili, a day after a violent protest left two dead, as the president called for calm and urged thousands who fled their homes to return.

One East Timorese police officer was killed by mobs during a protest in support of nearly 600 dismissed soldiers in the capital Dili, police said.

Dili – The government ordered the army to help restore order in East Timor's capital Friday, after two people were killed and 34 wounded, including three officers, in clashes between police and soldiers protesting their dismissal from the tiny Defense Force.

Dili – A protest rally by hundreds of former East Timorese soldiers sacked after deserting last month turned ugly Wednesday when at least five houses and a market in Dili were vandalised, witnesses said. About 2,000 protesters held a demonstration in support of nearly 600 soldiers who complained of poor working conditions and discrimination before they deserted.

Dili – Four years ago as East Timor became the world's youngest nation, hundreds of cars driven by UN personnel criss-crossed the streets of Dili as the nation's strife-torn people faced an uncertain future.

Nancy-Amelia Collins, Jakarta – Some East Timorese soldiers who were fired last month vow to continue their protests in the world's newest nation unless the government takes action over their complaints.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A march by dissident soldiers through the East Timorese capital yesterday turned ugly when demonstrators attacked market traders from the eastern Lospalos region.

The soldiers, from the western regions, were fired last month after a long dispute in which they claimed commanders discriminated against them in favour of easterners.

Dili – About 2,000 demonstrators, backing hundreds of soldiers dismissed from the East Timorese army, marched through Dili Monday, launching five-days of announced protests against alleged regional discrimination in the military.

Nearly 600 soldiers dismissed last month from East Timor's armed forces for striking over labour conditions have threatened to wage a guerrilla war if the government failed to resolve their dispute with the military leadership.

Mark Dodd – East Timor's Government is under pressure to eradicate torture and ill-treatment of detainees by its police force amid fears of a return to Indonesian-era human rights abuses.

Reporter: Geoff Thompson

Eleanor Hall: As the United Nations prepares for its final pull-out from East Timor next month, a human rights report has leveled allegations of torture and abuse against the local police.

Released just a few hours ago, the report by Human Rights Watch documents dozens of cases of abuse by prisoners in custody.

From correspondents in Dili – East Timor's government must urgently act to stop police torture and other ill-treatment of detainees before the practice becomes widespread, a Human Rights Watch report said today.

Raden Rachmadi, Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) promises not to dismiss PAN's East Nusa Tenggara Regional Executive Board (DPW) Chairman, Eurico Guterres, depite the fact that his appeal for a human rights violation in the East Timor case was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Minutes after James Leong and Lynn Lee arrived in Jakarta to present their documentary on East Timor, Passabe, at a film festival, they were told it had been struck off the programme.

Given the subject, it is easy to understand why the Indonesian authorities were concerned.

Jill Jolliffe – In October 1999, Indonesian troops filed silently through the smoldering remains of East Timor's capital, Dili, and on to its port. Their sullen embarkation signified the end of a bloody imperial adventure which began in the former Portuguese colony 24 years before.

Lindsay Murdoch – Dan Murphy says he used to "stack the bodies" in his clinic in Dili in 1999 when he was one of only a few doctors in then Indonesian controlled East Timor.

Four years after the tiny territory gained its independence, the American doctor says he has not seen much change in the health of the Timorese.

Dili – East Timor's foreign minister said Thursday that recent street disturbances in the capital were not related to a military crisis in the new nation, criticizing media reporting of the violence as "irresponsible, alarmist and completely false".

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Gastao Salsinha thought he would be a hero of East Timor's independence. "I fought the Indonesians in the bush but instead of being a hero I'm now being treated like a dog," he says.

Mr Salsinha became a lieutenant in the Australian-backed army that was formed after East Timor became the world's newest nation in 2002.

Dili – East Timor's capital was under tight security Tuesday as shops shut, public transport dwindled and some people sought refuge in a church after mobs went on a weekend rampage.

Dili – Authorities expect to pacify tensions pitting East Timor's ethnic groups that led to rioting in Dili at the weekend within days, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Monday.

Authorities "will continue to manage the situation with calm", Alkatiri told Lusa, saying the government was encouraging people from the east who fled the capital to return home.

Nancy-Amelia Collins, Jakarta – East Timorese police have arrested seven people two days after rioters rampaged through Dili, the capital of the world's youngest nation. Many of those involved in the violence were recently fired soldiers.

Dili – East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri today called for calm a day after sacked soldiers rampaged through the capital looting shops and pelting opponents with stones.

His Excellency Kofi Annan Secretary-General
The United Nations
1 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017-3515

March 24, 2006

Dear Mr. Secretary General,

Dili – The decision announced last week to dismiss nearly 600 East Timorese troops who went on strike over conditions and promotion rules was "unfair" and "wrong", President Xanana Gusmao said Thursday.

Loro Horta – On February 8, some 350 officers and soldiers from Timor Leste's small defence force abandoned their posts and marched to the presidential palace. The unarmed soldiers were protesting against ill treatment, discriminatory practices and poor conditions within the Timorese Defence Forces (FDTL).

Vannessa Hearman – East Timor's 2006 Human Development Report prepared by the United Nations Development Program and the Timorese government shows the country is suffering from deep structural poverty. The report argues for "integrated rural development" to be initiated by public investment as the "path out of poverty".

The key findings of the report include that:

'The Government no longer pays attention to us. Some local officials have even asked us why we have not repatriated and returned to Timtim. We don't think about going back to Timtim. We're here not only for the sights. We are legal citizens. I'm surprised that officials ask us this,' said Salem Nimran (49)

Jakarta – Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia and Timor Leste have agreed to settle their problems in the past through the Truth and Friendship Commission (TFC) and focus on pursuing restorative justice.

Dili – East Timor's military commander said Friday he would not accept the return of 591 soldiers who deserted from the tiny nation's military last month even if the country's president asked him to.

Dili – The leader of a group of nearly 600 East Timorese soldiers dismissed from the armed forces for going on strike appealed Friday to President Xanana Gusmao to mediate in their row with the military leadership.

Dili – East Timor's military commander today said he had fired about 500 soldiers, or about a third of the country's regular armed forces, for deserting last month.

"As of March 1, the soldiers have been declared civilians. The door has been closed for them," Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak said.

Dili – East Timor's economy needs to grow by more than 6% annually from 2007 if the new nation is to meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals by 2015, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has come under fire for its decision to release an Army general charged with atrocities before East Timor's independence vote in 1999, with observers saying the verdict once again discriminated in favor of the security forces.

Coimbra, Portugal – East Timor's foreign minister says that he is "very saddened" at the decision by Indonesia's top court this week to reinstate a 10-year jail term on former pro-Jakarta militia chief Eurico Guterres.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – The militia leader who incited his followers to kill East Timorese independence supporters in 1999 will be the first person punished over the violence after Indonesia's Supreme Court upheld his conviction for crimes against humanity yesterday.

Jakarta/Kupang – The Supreme Court reinstated a 10 year-jail term for former pro-Jakarta militia leader Eurico Guterres on Monday for committing crimes against humanity before East Timor's vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

Guterres is the second civilian convicted by the Supreme Court of involvement in the 1999 atrocities in the country's former province.

Tom Hyland – Outside, the autumn sun glistens on the Yarra. Inside the swish restaurant at Federation Square there's the clink of cutlery as hundreds of Melbourne women lawyers listen to a lunchtime speech by the woman who is billed to speak on her life, "from Melbourne arts student to the first lady of East Timor".

Virginia Winder – East Timor needs fair trade to turn its economy around, says peace and environmental activist Ego Lemos.

The Timorese man arrived in Taranaki yesterday for the Parihaka International Peace Festival.

H. E. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General United Nations
New York, NY 10017 USA

Fax: +1-212-963 48 79

Vienna, 10 March 2006

Your Excellency,

Richard Lloyd Parry – Five years after being liberated from Indonesian occupation, the tiny country of East Timor is in a downward spiral of poverty, poor health and illiteracy, according to a grim report by the United Nations.

East Timorese die on average 15 years younger than other East Asians and four out of ten of them survive on less than 30 pence a day.

Executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Hadi Soesastro said East Timor has abundant natural resources.

Cara Jenkin – In Adelaide, Kirsty Sword Gusmao can see that women, young and old, enjoy equal opportunities. At her home in East Timor, they still struggle for even basic gains.

In her position as First Lady of East Timor, Ms Sword Gusmao was guest speaker at the UNIFEM Adelaide Breakfast at the Adelaide Convention Centre yesterday.

Rob Taylor, Jakarta – East Timor is at a tipping point and must use billions of dollars from the carve-up of undersea oil and gas reserves wisely or continue its downward spiral into poverty, a new report has warned.

Craig Skehan – Entrenched poverty could destabilise East Timor unless earnings from oil and gas are fairly distributed, a United Nations report has found.

Half the estimated population of 1 million lacks safe drinking water and 60 in every 1000 infants die before their first birthday. Life expectancy is only 55, while the average yearly income of $500 has been falling.

Dili – Around 200 more soldiers from East Timor's 1,500-strong army have joined a strike over poor conditions and selective promotions, officials said Thursday.

The troops walked out of their barracks to join the 400 who have been on strike since Feb. 8, said Gastao Salsinha, a coordinator of the strike.

Sonny Inbaraj – The current media landscape in East Timor, the world's newest nation, is not a pretty one.