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

Atambua – Communities on both sides, namely the people of Turiskain, Haekesak sub-district, Belu district, West Nusa Tenggara and the people of East Timor, have been asked to refrain fr

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – At least 5,700 East Timorese who have chosen to stay in Indonesia threatened on Tuesday to snub the 2004 general election to protest the government's failure t

Mario Osava, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil will provide assistance in a wide range of areas to help rebuild East Timor, the world's newest nation and one of its poorest, whose first president

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has ruled out immediate membership for East Timor, the world's newest country, officials said Tuesday.

Vietnam and East Timor have established diplomatic relations in a brief ceremony the eve of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' annual meeting in Brunei.

Peter Kammerer – Relations with Indonesia are progressing strongly, with issues such as the return of refugees to be settled within months, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said yester

The head of the UN mission in East Timor met Friday with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for discussions aimed to "consolidate and intensify" relations between Dili and Jakar

Poor countries should spend less money on weapons and seek to resolve their internal differences or differences with their neighbours via dialogue, says East Timor's President Kay Rala

President Xanana Gusmao called Thursday to the nations of the North to grant debt relief to the countries in the South, who would, in their turn seek to implement "good governance" with

Jim Lobe – More than 50 human rights groups in Washington D.C.

The Indonesian military, until recently occupiers of East Timor, may soon begin training officers for Dili's fledgling defense force, the UN mission in the newly independent country sai

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's offer to act as the honest broker between the two Koreas, made during North Korean number two leader Kim Yong Nam's first visit here, has been gr

Jill Jolliffe – An argument over who is to be East Timor's first ambassador to Australia could lead to a showdown between President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

[The following letter to the the Sydney Morning Herald editor was issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta.]

Rod McGuirk, Darwin – East Timor President and former freedom fighter Xanana Gusmao today said he did not want to see the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya win independence.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has put pragmatism ahead of human rights in his first foreign policy statement, describing China as the new nation

Jim Lobe – If Indonesia declares martial law in oil-rich Aceh province, as suggested last weekend by top military officials, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri may find i

Renewed clashes in the troubled Indonesian province over the past few days have also claimed the lives of three civilians in a grenade blast, and three more rebels, officials said.

Jakarta – The post of Indonesian ambassador to Australia remains unfilled because of a political struggle in Jakarta over who appoints the country's diplomats.

Raymond Bonner, Jakarta – The Bush administration's effort to re-establish military ties with Indonesia, which has been curtailed for nearly a decade because of its army's widespread hu

Lincoln Wright – Defence Minister Robert Hill has rejected claims from a whistleblower that the Defence Signals Directorate spied on journalists to discover who was leaking sensitive in

Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor on Tuesday agreed to seek the best way of settling the issue of assets the former had left behind in what used to be its 27th province.

When East Timor President Xanana Gusmao began his official visit in Indonesia on Tuesday, he was received with a red carpet welcome and full military honors fitting for all visiting hea

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Just four years ago, Mr Xanana Gusmao was Indonesia's most prized rebel prisoner.

East Timor's foreign minister said Wednesday that he regretted the decision of the United States to withdraw its military observers from the newly independent nation over fears of possi

Indonesia rolled out the red carpet for the man it once jailed as a subversive as Xanana Gusmao arrived in the capital for his first visit as president of newly independent East Timor.

Beijing – China supports the building of an East Timor army and will work toward friendly ties with it, state media quoted China's defense minister saying Tuesday.

Jon Land – East Timor's recently elected president, Xanana Gusmao, arrived in Canberra on June 17 for his first official state visit to Australia.

Jakarta – The Indonesian export volume to neighboring East Timor increased from around 20 million US dollars in 2000 to more than 33 million US dollars in 2001, an official said Thursda

Tim Shorrock (Inter Press Service), Washington – As US officials lobby Congress to approve a US$16 million package of military aid for Indonesia, they are stressing the need to support

President Xanana Gusmao has distanced himself from comments made by Dili's prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, on the non-payment of compensation to Indonesians whose property was destroyed

Kel Dummett – As the independence celebrations begin to subside in East Timor, it certainly is timely for Australia to take a sober look at its foreign policy, especially regarding its

Jane Perlezm Bukit Meranti – On a Friday, just before noon prayers in the simple wooden mosque, soldiers stormed into the village of Bukit Meranti, herded the people together and, accor

Dili – Three Indonesian ministers made a three hour visit to East Timor on Saturday, in an effort to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Sydney – Australia and East Timor pledged to continue their close friendship Monday during East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao's first official visit abroad since his country became i

Dili – Thirty-one officials from Indonesia met East Timorese leaders yesterday to push its former province to compensate Jakarta for assets left behind when it pulled out amid bloodshed

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Indonesia and East Timor have identified a number of residual problems that they will attempt to resolve following the new country's independence which

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's potential ambassadors perceive the job as a chance for a vacation and have little idea of how to promote the country overseas, a parliamentary co

Jill Jolliffe – An incursion by Indonesian warships into East Timorese waters last month was a ploy by military hardliners to prevent President Megawati Sukarnoputri attending independe

Kupang – Senior Indonesian government officials on Saturday expressed willingness to allow East Timorese policemen and officials to pursue higher education in Indonesia.

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesia is sending a delegation of three ministers to East Timor in a signal that it wants a co-operative relationship with its former possession, declared in

Dewi Anggraeni and Syafi'i Anwar – There is something unnerving about Singapore senior minister Lee Kwan Yew's call last week that the world (read the United States) should rely on the

Jakarta – Six countries have agreed to set up the Southwest Pacific Forum and will hold a first annual meeting in Indonesia in August, reports said Sunday.

Greg Sheridan – Want to hear something strange?

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Worried about the strategic vulnerability of its eastern flanks, Indonesia is discreetly lobbying for East Timor to be granted early observer status in the Associati

Joseph Nevins – East Timor became the world's first new country of the millennium on May 20 and, appropriately, the Bush administration poured salt on East Timor's deep wounds.

Newly independent East Timor urged former ruler Indonesia to drop its compensation demand for assets left behind after Jakarta ended its two-decade occupation of the country.

Mark Drajem, Washington – The Bush administration is calling on Indonesia to rein in the military's financial empire, saying profit-making ventures have allowed the armed forces to beco

Jesse J.