More than 50 prisoners who escaped from Dili's main prison Friday, after a riot apparently provoked by anger at hold-ups in the processing of inmates' cases, remained on the run Monday.

We are in the back of an old Toyota Ute, heading for the hillside village of Ermera. It is only about 100km from the East Timorese capital, Dili, but the road is rough and winding.

[As the fledgling nation of East Timor finds its feet, Maree Curtis talks to Kirsty Sword, the Australian-born former spy playing first lady to a legend.

[Bitter Dawn: East Timor, A People's Story; by Irena Cristalis; ZED Books, London, 2002; 286 pages. Reviewed by Carmel Budiardjo, Contributor, London.]

Matthew Moore – The man who ran the United Nations mission that oversaw East Timor's referendum has branded the trials of alleged Indonesian war criminals a complete failure and said it

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – As he stood in the courtroom and hugged his wife on hearing his not guilty verdict, a hand reached out to Brigadier General Timbul Silaen.

About 60 human rights activists have demonstrated in the East Timorese capital Dili demanding an international tribunal into the 1999 violence that devastated the former Indonesian prov

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Almost the entire population of East Timor's main jail broke out yesterday in protest against the long delays in processing their cases.

Dennis Schulz and Fernando de Freitas report – Opposite the clerk in the Government's Office of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gutierrez stares blankly at the official application, mouth agape.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The sentencing of their former governor, Abilio Soares, to three years in prison for failing to stop the 1999 violence drew a mixed response from the people of Eas

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Indonesia's human rights court yesterday acquitted four mid-ranking soldiers and two policemen, including the former East Timor police chief, of charges they we

The United States has called on the Indonesian government to redouble efforts to prosecute human rights abuses by its security forces in East Timor.

East Timor is preparing a "joint position" on the verdicts of the Jakarta court, currently trying those deemed responsible for the violence in Timor in 1999, and Dili will examine all o

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – East Timor's president, who has asked Indonesia's human rights court not to single out scapegoats for killings during the territory's 1999 independence vote,

Victor Tjahjadi, Jakarta – A conspiracy between the military and the Indonesian government was likely behind the acquittal of six military and police officers for gross human rights vio

Jane Perlez, Jakarta – An Indonesian human rights court today acquitted six military and police officials of crimes against humanity in East Timor after a pro-independence vote three ye

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – The Dutch Government has promised to continue pressing Jakarta to prosecute the alleged killer of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, despite Indonesian authorities s

The suffering East Timorese endured under Indonesian rule will define relations between the two countries for generations.

In a joint statement issued today, Amnesty International and the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) expressed their grave disappointment in the trials of the first East Timor c

Peter Kammerer – Reconciliation between East Timor and Indonesia has become a tussle of diplomacy versus justice – and it seems clear the latter will lose.

Chris McCall – Abilio Soares' light sentence finally proves that Indonesia's human rights trials related to East Timor are just a ploy to satisfy the international community, a top Indo

Joaquim Fonseca's anger is clear as he recalls the massacre at a police station in the East Timor town of Maliana and the cold-blooded shooting of a young man by police in the capital,

[The former governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares, has become the first Indonesian official to be sentenced to jail for gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.

Steven Gutkin, Jakarta – In the first verdict in a series of trials of former Indonesian officials charged with crimes against humanity, the ex-governor of East Timor was convicted Wedn

East Timorese demands for justice will not be satisfied by the conviction of former East Timor governor Abilio Soares for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor in 1999 say CAF

An American NGO campaigning for human rights in East Timor called Wednesday for the setting up of an international tribunal to punish crimes against humanity committed throughout the 24

William M.

East Timor government officials attending meetings at this week's Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji say they are not supporting the campaign by Papuan separatists.

Kupang – East Timorese refugees sheltering in a number of camps in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province will celebrate in a modest way Indonesia's 57th independence day on August 17.

Jakarta – East Timorese refugees are to vacate camps across East Nusa Tenggara by August 31, the deadline set for them to leave the shelter and receive government assistance to return t

United Nations – Nearly three months after East Timor's independence, the UN mission in the fledgling southeast Asian nation is on course to finish its work and shut down in two years,

Dili – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao said Tuesday any trial for the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes should be held in his country.

Kuala Lumpur – East Timor took control of its legal system from United Nations administrators too soon and weakness of the judiciary is hurting investor confidence, Foreign Minister Jos

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Indonesia is due to deliver on Wednesday its first verdict in landmark trials over violence linked to East Timor's bloody independence vote in 1999, but many w

Dmli – The National Parliament of Timor approved and ratified today to adhesion from Timor to the International Criminal Court (TPI), with 70 votes to favor and barely an abstention, of

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia offered East Timor Monday assistance ranging from education to military training during a visit by the fledgling nation's Prime Minister, Mari Bim Amude Alkatiri

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The threat of violence is imminent in East Nusa Tenggara province as residents in North Central Timor Regency have objected to the presence of more East Timore

Jakarta – Civilians slaughtered as they hid in churches. Independence leaders assassinated in their homes. Entire villages burned to the ground.

Camillo Fracassini – The suspected killers of a Scottish journalist murdered in East Timor 27 years ago have escaped a war crimes trial in the UK, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Paul Toohey – East Timor's 40-odd lawyers are on strike. The judges and registry staff have all gone home.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A pro-Jakarta East Timorese leader told the Rights Tribunal on Thursday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) did nothing to stop armed militias from attacking the

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, seeking political detente, held a first meeting Friday to discuss "sensitive" policy issues before government act

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors lacked evidence to lay charges against powerful former armed forces commander General Wiranto over the violence in East Timor, the country's former atto

President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri urged East Timor's students Thursday to aid the new nation's reconstruction and development through "mature" and "constructive"

Jakarta – A former militia boss accused of inciting a massacre in East Timor in 1999 on Thursday denied allegations by a compatriot that he had ordered his men to attack pro-independenc

Atambua – The Belu district military command on Thursday succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle around 1.8 tons of kerosene to East Timor.

Jakarta – A leading former East Timorese independence supporter wept Wednesday as he recalled the death of his son in a 1999 militia attack on his refugee-packed home in Dili.

President Xanana Gusmao Wednesday defended his controversial request for an Indonesian court trying human rights crimes committed in East Timor to show clemency in one case, saying he w

East Timorese government and UN officials held a fourth, unannounced round of reconciliation and repatriation talks with former anti-independence militia chief Joao Tavares Tuesday in t

Police have detained two Sri Lankan men in Dili on "strong" suspicion they were working as an advance team for an illegal immigration network apparently linked to the arrival in East Ti