East Timor may not seek a United Nations tribunal to try cases of militia atrocities three years ago even if Indonesia's human rights court fails to deliver justice according to its for

[The East Timor government says unsuccessful asylum-seekers forced to return from Australia will be a burden on the country's fledgeling economy.

Dili – Violent clashes Monday between security forces and residents near East Timor's second city, Baucau, left two people injured, a police source said.

Helen Signy and Cynthia Banham – The Australian Government issued a secret directive that refugee applications from the East Timorese community should be put on hold, documents obtained

Andrew West – Under the threat of deportation, the Lay family celebrated the eighth anniversary of their arrival in Australia at their Fairfield home yesterday.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – With the deadline for the closure of refugee camps here drawing near, 121 East Timorese families have registered for the government-sponsored resettlement prog

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Armindo Soares Mariano, caretaker of UNTAS – an East Timorese refugee organization – disclosed here on Friday that East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao wou

Dili – The UN will respect its engagement with East Timor and has no plans for an anticipated reduction or withdrawal of its civilian team and peacekeeping forces, Dili's UN ambassador

A lack of foreign investment rules has been highlighted as the main factor restricting economic growth in the newly independent East Timor.

[East Timor has marked the eleventh anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre.

Jason Koutsoukis – The $3.5 billion Bayu-Undan natural gas project between Australia and East Timor received a major boost yesterday when a joint federal parliamentary committee recomme

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Witnesses at East Timor's truth and reconciliation commission have described atrocities going back to 1975 involving Indonesian soldiers, militia groups – and the

Dili – East Timorese students and human rights groups called Tuesday for an international court to judge those responsible for human rights abuses during the Indonesian occupation of Ti

Dili – About 1,000 protesters Tuesday demanding that the Indonesian soldiers who shot to death 200 people at a rally 11 years ago be brought to justice.

Dili – Australia is using East Timor's vulnerability as one of the world's poorest nations to gain leverage in negotiations on the carving up of oil resources in the Timor Sea, Dili's p

Jakarta – Prosecutors on Monday sought the minimum 10-year jail sentence for a former Indonesian army chief officer charged with crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A United Nations prosecutor has hailed the indictment of two Indonesian officers for the 1999 murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes as a turning point in East

Kupang – The people of the western half of Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, must also enjoy their traditional rights as owners of the Timor Sea, the site of oil and gas explorations kn

Jakarta – The government has agreed to hold a special repatriation program for East Timorese refugees who want to go home late this year, Antara reported.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Investigators in East Timor have issued an indictment against two Indonesian military officers over the 1999 killing of a Dutch journalist around the time the terr

A former militia chief has denied he had committed human rights abuses in East Timor three years ago and said he was a victim of the Indonesian government's desire to appease internatio

Dili – The leadership of East Timor's ruling Fretilin party met Thursday with its deputies in the Dili parliament to discuss recent revelations of high absenteeism among Fretilin MPs an

East Timor's first Portuguese-language newspaper in more than a quarter century will be formally launched in Dili Thursday.

Jakarta – Two Indonesian soldiers were among seven people indicted Wednesday in East Timor for killing a Dutch journalist and 19 others during the country's independence struggle in 199

Dili – Defense force recruits attacked traffic police in the East Timorese capital Friday, in an apparent act of revenge, injuring at least two officers.

Dili – An average of 12 percent of lawmakers do not attend sittings of East Timor's parliament and only one in ten of these absentees offers a valid excuse for their non-appearance, a r

Jill Jolliffe, Atambua – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao has called on the United Nations to lower its security rating for West Timor, which is now at a higher stage of alert than

Dili – International donations were used to plug East Timor's USD 22 million budget deficit in the financial year 2001-2002, although the world's newest nation's state receipts were hig

Jill Jolliffe, Kupang – President Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has led a delegation of more than 100 East Timorese, including parliamentarians, cabinet ministers, a football team and 16 enterta

Jill Jolliffe, Lacluta – In the remote south coast town of Lacluta, nine villagers accused of violence against their neighbours during 1999 militia attacks have faced their victims in t

Kupang – East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao told a sports stadium filled with East Timorese refugees Saturday that it was their decision whether or not to return home.

Kupang – The president of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Alexander "Xanana" Gusmao, arrived here on Friday morning, amid tight security, for a four-day official trip that will i

Sydney – Portuguese intelligence has warned of terrorist attacks against Australian, Portuguese and US interests in East Timor, the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) said yesterday.

President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Francis Carroll, has written to the Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Philip R

Dili – The East Timorese government is to undertake a review of its state budget plans after a fall in government receipts and delays in delivering aid funds have left the new nation wi

Cindy Wooden, Vatican City – Catholics in East Timor held firmly to their faith during their struggle for independence, and now they must bring their Catholic values to bear on the new

A court in East Timor has sentenced a former militia commander to five years in prison for crimes against humanity committed in 1999, the United Nations said.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – He didn't wear sack cloth, but Timorese President Xanana Gusmao sent a clear message on austerity when he unveiled a burnt-out building as his new headquarters yes

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's President Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has repeated his opposition to trials for Indonesian officers accused of human rights violations in Dili, a stand suppo

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Six Indonesians were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded at a traditional market in an East Timorese town near the border with East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the

Lisbon – The World Bank is studying, with a view to financing, a Portuguese publishing firm's proposal to produce 50,000 school books for use in East Timor's education system.

Jakarta – Suspected gross human rights violator in East Timor, Eurico Guterres, said he had felt neither guilt nor sorrow over what he did in the region before it separated as an indepe

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta says his country is ready to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty and the Australian Government will owe his people an explanation if it decides to

President Xanana Gusmao defended Wednesday a dynamic of national reconciliation rather than the setting up of an international court to try human rights abuses committed in East Timor.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of East Timorese refugees sheltering in Kupang and Belu regencies have refused to be repatriated, pending the disbursement of Christmas bonuses promis

Jill Jolliffe, Balibo – The Victorian Government will establish a medical clinic in the East Timor house used by five Australian-based journalists whom Indonesian invaders killed.

Sarah Stephen – The 168 East Timorese asylum seekers whose claims were rejected by the immigration department on September 25 are the first of almost 1700 asylum seekers who face the pr

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a report on East Timor Thursday, stressing what he termed "the vital necessity" of continued UN aid for the world's youngest nation.

Lisbon – East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao says he would like to quit but will stay in the job to help his recently independent country grow.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor agreed on Tuesday to convert Indonesian assets in East Timor, mostly corporate assets, into equity investment in the newly born