New York – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations mission in Timor-Leste for another year so that it can continue to assist the fledgling nation consolida

The East Timorese government has hit out at the United Nations Development Program saying it's culturally insensitive about issues in the country.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's leaders have objected to large sections of a crucial United Nations agency report on the country only weeks before the UN Security Council reconsi

Rory Callinan – Australia should set a date for withdrawing its forces from East Timor as the situation has improved and Dili is disregarding UN advice.

The Australian Defence Force says the security environment in East Timor has been calm for the past two years and that has allowed troop numbers to be reduced.

Greg Roberts – Life in East Timor is as good as it's ever been but that does not mean Australian troops should leave, according to an expert on the tiny island nation.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao wants Australia's 400 troops deployed in his country to leave.

Sydney – The United Nations should cut the number of foreign police in East Timor to encourage one of world's newest countries to manage its own affairs, an influential security think t

Dili/Brussels – The size of the policing contingent of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) should be sharply reduced to prepare for the peace operation's eventual

Lindsay Murdoch – Australian troops will withdraw from East Timor in 2012 – six years after hundreds of them arrived in the half-island nation to quell violent upheaval.

Australia will phase out more than a third of its adviser positions in East Timor over the next two years.

UN Security Council members and a special envoy have expressed concern over policing in East Timor and some decisions by President Jose Ramos-Horta.

Larine Statham – Fresh concerns have emerged that East Timor's economy will be dealt a savage blow, leaving hundreds of people without work, when United Nations forces withdraw from the

New Zealand's military deployment in East Timor is being cut because the security situation there has improved, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp says.

The Australian Defence Force Chief says he believes East Timorese forces will be able to take full responsibility for the country's security in the near future.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Australian soldiers in East Timor have been accused of asking Timorese their political views, in violation of the country's constitution.

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of its mission in East Timor (UNMIT) for another year.

Edith M.

Sydney – Australia said on Thursday that it would reduce its troop commitment in East Timor by more than a third following a prolonged period of stability in the tiny nation.

The new Australian Commander of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in East Timor says there are many signs of progress in the country.

New York – The European Union concurred with the United Nations Friday on the need to strengthen East Timor's capability to handle its own security before the UN mission there can be w

Dili – Australian Defence Minister John Faulkner visited East Timor Saturday and reiterated his country's commitment to maintaining security in the newly formed country, officials said

The United Nations is preparing for a gradual withdrawal from East Timor early next year and expects Australia will begin to reduce its troop numbers at the same time.

Jonathan Pearlman – The United Nations is preparing gradually to wind down its mission in East Timor and believes Australia could do the same, says the mission's chief of staff, Gerard

Corinne Podger – Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has told Radio Australia that Australian troops will stay as long as East Timor says it needs them.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved East Timor's request to keep its peace keeping force there for another year.

The UN Security Council decided unanimously on Thursday to keep its peacekeeping mission in East Timor for another 12 months, noting that the political and security situation there rema

Ross Peake – The Australian Defence Force is in East Timor for the long haul although the size of the contingent will vary according to the stability of the tiny nation.

Sydney – Australia will reduce its troop deployment to East Timor because of the improved security situation, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Wednesday.

The Federal Defence Minister has told East Timor's Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, that Australia will not pull its 750 troops out of East Timor until it is certain the current level of

East Timor's prime minister has signalled a gradual reduction in the number of international troops needed in his country.

Ben Doherty and Daniel Flitton – Australia's 750-strong troop commitment to East Timor could be over by the end of next year, as security in the nation steadily improves, the East Timor

Philip Dorling – The Australian Defence Force has begun a series of controversial exercises in East Timor involving Black Hawk helicopters firing live machine-gun rounds.

Stephanie March – The United Nations in East Timor is on the defensive after being lambasted by its own top lawyer in New York for hiring disgraced former defence minister, Roque Rodrig

Paul Toohey – The UN will wait until February to consider whether it will continue its peacekeeping mission in East Timor, despite President Jose Ramos Horta asking it to commit until a

Australia will withdraw 200 troops deployed to East Timor following February's attacks on the troubled country's president and prime minister, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

Paul Toohey – The Australian-led International Stabilisation Force took double the normal time to travel to the compound of Jose Ramos Horta, on the day the East Timorese President was

Canberra – Australia on Friday strongly defended its military's response to an assassination attempt on East Timor's leadership after injured President Jose Ramos-Horta said they could

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is critical of the failure of international forces to quickly capture the rebels who attacked him in Dili last month.

Tony Iltis – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta was rushed to Darwin to undergo emergency surgery after being shot three times in a February 11 attack on his residence by armed re

Kevin Rudd's mission to East Timor yesterday was as much about fact-finding as it was about bolstering a government in crisis.

The UN must play a part in ending the lawlessness that culminated in this week's attempted assassinations of Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao an

East Timor's Prime Minister wants international peacekeepers in his country to move away from security duties and focus instead on mentoring and training.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his strongest indication yet that Australian troops will remain in East Timor until 2009.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta will tell Kevin Rudd today that he expects Australian troops to stay in the country for at least another year.

Dili – Australia's prime minister and the United Nations chief on Friday pledged continued support for East Timor to ensure peace and stability in the tiny nation.

Ian Munro – East Timor is pressing for an extension of the United Nations mission (UNMIT) to support the country's fledgling democracy.

Dili – A senior UN official said Friday East Timor will continue to need the presence of the United Nations in the country for some time to come.

Ramos-Horta said Thursday that his country would need international forces to maintain security for "another few years", after talks here with his Portuguese counterpart.

The Australian Defence Department has rejected allegations that six Australian soldiers beat a civilian Timorese security guard in Dili last Sunday.