Mark Dodd – A mob backed by Indonesian troops has crossed into East Timor, attacked a border patrol and set fire to buildings, threatening the fragile peace between the two nations.

Kupang – Two Indonesian soldiers stationed at Nunura in Haekesak village, Raihat district, Belu regency, were attacked by Timor Leste residents on Wednesday.

[Excerpt from report by Emmy F FROM Detik.com web site on 22 May.]

Denpasar – The Indonesian army is to form a special battalion to guard the country's 240-km-long land border with East Timor or Timor Leste in East Nusatenggara, a spokesman said.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Just days after the government extended the deadline for all foreigners to leave Aceh by March 26, an immigration official said on Tuesday some 1,175 foreigner

An Australian academic banned from Indonesia said yesterday that incorrect reports he had links to separatist rebels in Aceh province could have been the reason he was refused entry thi

Adianto P.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – One of Australia's most highly regarded Indonesia experts has been banned from entering the country in a move reminiscent of restrictions imposed by the Soehart

Australia will rebuild Indonesian immigration offices in the tsunami-shattered province of Aceh to improve ties between the countries and bolster the fight against people-smuggling, Imm

Indonesian troops have cracked down on suspected militia members near the East Timor border, banning them from wearing camouflage uniforms as the UN sought an extension for peacekeeping

Dili – Former pro-Indonesian militiamen are gradually slipping back into East Timor and resorting to banditry, a military source in Dili told Lusa Friday.

Dili – Police in East Timor detained a man after an exchange of gunfire between security forces and an armed group near the border with Indonesian West Timor, officials said Wednesday.

Indonesia's military needs at least 70,000 more troops to ensure security and would ideally be almost double its current size, a report quoted the head of the army as saying.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Over 270 people, who were deported from East Timor, were moved into a dormitory belonging to East Nusa Tenggara's Manpower and Transmigration Office in Kupang

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – After five hours of immigration checks in Motaain, on the border of East Timor and Indonesia, 62 people were deported from the neighboring country, finally arr

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao warned Friday his emerging nation still faces the threat of incursions by armed militias, most likely from Indonesia's West Timor.

Kupang – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is ready to provide protection for UN agencies that reopen in East Nusa Tenggara province, the western part of Timor island, a local commander sai

Dili – Both East Timor and Indonesia are "on alert" for any resurgence of anti-independence militia activity following Dili's assumption of full security control from the United Nations

Rendi A.

Tiarma Siboro and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Claiming that the number of military personnel remains far from enough to guard the country's vast territory, the Ministry of Defense is draf

Jill Jolliffe, Pante Macassar – The 45,000 inhabitants of East Timor's tiny enclave of Oecusse have suffered isolation and economic disadvantage as a result of independence in 2002, but

East Timor today welcomed proposals to form a new foreign police unit, including Australian officers, to boost security after the current United Nations mission is scaled down in May.

Sian Powell – The son of one of East Timor's most feared militia leaders stares deadpan as he says he is a man of peace.

Kupang – The United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF) in East Timor aired its pessimism over the security conditions there following the withdrawal of the UN mission scheduled for May

Atambua – Illegal border crossing into Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province from East Timor is something hard to control, a local military official said.

Radio Australia – The United Nations has announced it may maintain a presence in East Timor beyond the end of its peacekeeping mandate on May 20.

The military chief in Indonesian West Timor has promised that members of an opposition group in neighbouring East Timor, an independent state, will be barred from crossing the border in

Kupang – Wirasakti military commander Col.

Jill Jolliffe, Bobonaro – As the world's youngest nation battles to repress rebel groups, the harshness of the crackdown risks provoking the very instability the government seeks to pre

Atambua – The people living in border areas shared by Indonesia's province of East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor did not care about the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF)'s plan to withdraw i

Jill Jolliffe, Bobonaro – There is a palpable fear in the town of Bobonaro, which sits on the Timorese side of the border with Indonesia.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – A senior Indonesian Military (TNI) commander in Kupang denied on Thursday recent reports in several local media that 78 armed pro-Indonesia militiamen have inf

Atambua – The Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) is mulling the reopening of traditional markets on the Indonesian-East Timor border, a local military official said.

Atambua – Indonesian military and police personnel assigned to the border regions shared by Indonesia and East Timor have shown reformed attitudes in accordance with current era of refo

Jill Jolliffe, Darwin – A United Nations official has pointed the finger at the UN police command for its failure to intervene effectively during riots in East Timor last December.

Kefamenanu, East Nusa Tenggara – East Timor should prevent illegal trade at the border between its Oecusse district and Timor Tengah Utara district in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara pro

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government issued on Tuesday a decree that restricts foreigners from traveling to the war-torn province of Aceh.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for People' Welfare Jusuf Kalla insisted on Wednesday that the martial law administrator in Aceh would issue a new measure soon, t

Jakarta – The government has declared war-torn Aceh off limits to tourists following the shooting of two German tourists last week.

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – The government is not postponing the new visa policy but is merely implementing a six-month transition period instead, spokesman Ade E.

Dili – East Timor is training police not troops to guard its border with giant neighbour Indonesia because it wants a demilitarised frontier zone, President Xanana Gusmao said Monday.

Dean Yates, Banda Aceh – Indonesia has told foreign aid workers to leave troubled Aceh for security reasons and says Jakarta wants to take over all humanitarian assistance in the provin

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Four foreigners were deported to their home countries on Thursday for committing what immigration officials called "a dangerous activity" by participating in a

John Martinkus – General Taur Matan Ruak, the former guerilla leader who now heads East Timor's defence forces, has called on residents of the world's newest nation to ignore rumours th

For the first time, the East Timorese Government has begun taking control from the United Nations over its border with Indonesia.

In East Timor, continuing militia infilitration has put a spotlight on the United Nations failure to properly secure the border.

Jakarta – People in the East Timor regency of Belu expressed disappointment over the country's recent ruling to impose a US$25 visa on visitors from Indonesia, which it borders.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's recent decision to revoke free visa-on-arrival facilities for tourists from nearly 40 countries has come under fire for dealing another blow to the tour

Stefan Reisner, Bali – Anger, confusion and disbelief – that is the reaction of the tourist industry and the expatriate community following the drastic change in immigration regulations

Jakarta – Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Tuesday defended a much-criticised decree forcing more tourists to obtain visas, saying the policy was vital to protect internal secur