Canberra – The United States denied a newspaper report Tuesday that it told Australian defense strategists in June it would consider deploying up to 15,000 troops to East Timor if blood

Dili – Representatives from East Timor's rival political factions on Monday agreed to commit themselves and their supporters to a peaceful referendum campaign in the lead-up to a self-d

Manila – Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas on Monday called "a myth" statements by East Timor's resistance leaders that the territory would vote overwhelmingly for independence if

David Shanks – The Indonesian military is "openly and clearly distributing guns in the eastern towns of Baucau, Laga and other places. They are turning Timorese against Timorese.

Mark Riley, New York – The United Nations plans to withdraw completely from East Timor if the territory threatens to dissolve into civil war after this month's autonomy ballot.

Prapan Chankaew, Dili – Indonesian ministers insisted during a visit to East Timor on Saturday that Jakarta could ensure security despite attacks on UN staff and fears of chaos after an

Lindsay Murdoch in Dili and Malcolm Brown – An American doctor credited with saving the lives of scores of East Timorese attacked by pro-Jakarta militias in Dili has been refused entry

A meeting of top military, police, pro-autonomy and paramilitary leaders, in East Timor, has planned a guerrilla war if the autonomy plan is rejected at the vote on the territory's futu

Jakarta – Pro-Indonesia East Timorese militia on Friday attacked a group of students in a church in the township of Same, injuring one of them seriously, a foreign observer group said.

Vaudine England, Dili – Pressure to increase the number of UN civilian police officers is increasing in the wake of persistent reports of pro-integration militias preparing for conflict

John Martinkus, East Timor – They came in a snaking line across the high mountain pass. Exhausted but laughing, relieved to be at the end of a harrowing 20 kilometre walk.

Dili – The Indonesian military continues to support militias that are harassing and intimidating East Timorese ahead of an independence vote, an agency headed by former US President Jim

[The following Memo was prepared by Tapol to reveal how the British Government continues to trot out totally misleading statements about the use of Hawk aircraft in East Timor.]

Gwen Robinson, Sydney – The Australian government has stepped up its diplomatic involvement in the politically troubled regions of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, following visits by to

Dili – The United Nations Monday declared the registration process for East Timor's August 30 ballot on independence a success, saying it had already registered almost all the expected

[The following is an excerpt from the July 29 speach by Megawati Soekarnoputri "The People's Victory in the Election of 1999" on the issue of the East Timor ballot.]

Tjitschke Linksma looks at the plight of East Timor refugees after travelling with a UN convoy which brought one group their first consignment of aid in weeks.

Dili – Two gunmen, reportedly members of the pro-Indonesia militia, shot dead a man in East Timor on Sunday, prompting an angry crowd to set fire to the house of a known militia member.

Mark Riley, New York – The United Nations is drafting plans for an administration to rule East Timor for up to four years if, as expected, the territory votes to break away from Indones

Tim Johnston, Dili – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Friday the opposing factions in East Timor should share power after the August 30 ballot on independence.

Dili – The arrest of a gun-toting militia member at a United Nations registration post Thursday was the latest in a series of violent incidents in this Indonesian-ruled territory this w

Jacinto Alves spent seven years in prison for organising a peaceful demonstration at the funeral of a separatist sympathiser in Dili in 1991.

Craig Skehan, Singapore – Australia is urging Indonesia and the United Nations to consider upgrading security in East Timor in case violence worsens after next month's planned self-dete

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Indonesia is strongly resisting United Nations pressure to further delay a ballot to decide the future of East Timor after boosting the number of police in the t

Mark Dodd, Dili – An attack against the United Nations office in the East Timorese town of Maliana last month was organised by a shadowy network of militia and army officers, according

Marianne Kearney, Dili – Armed militiamen in Maubisse, 70 km south of here, are patrolling the streets and threatening villagers with death if they vote for independence.

Mike Head – The United States and the World Bank have both threatened Indonesia with diplomatic and financial retaliation if the Jakarta regime continues to support militia attacks on p

Jakarta – The World Bank said on Wednesday international donors to Indonesia would be closely watching the situation in disputed East Timor and could change their stance if a UN-supervi

Dili – The intimidation of voters is rampant in East Timor and there has been no significant improvement in security, the independent Carter Center poll monitoring organization said Tue

Sydney – Indonesia is preparing for a massive post-ballot slaughter in East Timor – exacting retribution in blood on East Timorese for refusing to bow to the reign of terror and vote fo

Dili – A confidential Indonesian government report predicts social chaos in East Timor as Indonesians flee following an expected vote in favour of independence in August.

Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – The UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) is facing its first protest over voter registration for an August ballot on the territory's future as pro-Indonesia figur

Sugianto Tandra, Balibo – A leader of a pro-Indonesia East Timor militia unit said Saturday he has been ordered to make guns in case East Timorese reject autonomy within Indonesia in a

Liquisa – Hundreds of people braved pro-Indonesia militia intimidation in this traumatized district to register Friday for a vote on East Timor's future.

Geoff Spencer, Suai – Bloodshed marred the start of voter registration in East Timor for a UN-supervised ballot on independence for the Indonesian province, UN officials said today.

Jakarta – Some 2,250 East Timorese living elsewhere in Indonesia are expected to register for August's vote on the territory's future, an independent East Timorese youth group said here

Dili – UN blue berets and volunteers on Friday opened voter registration for the landmark poll on the future of East Timor, but the start was marred by the after effects of a violent mi

Mark Dodd, Dili – Despite nagging security concerns, the United Nations gave its qualified approval yesterday to start voter registration in East Timor, less than six weeks before its p

Jakarta – US relations with Indonesia could suffer if ongoing violence derails a planned vote on self-determination in East Timor, a senior US government official said here Wednesday.

United Nations – The UN Security Council today called on Jakarta to make 'concrete progress' in improving the security situation in East Timor to ensure the holding of a landmark ballot

Don Greenlees, Jakarta – East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres was due to meet UN envoy Francesc Vendrell in Dili on Saturday. He didn't show up.

Don Greenlees (Jakarta) and Sian Powell (Dili) – Almost half the Indonesian Cabinet flew into East Timor yesterday in a dramatic bid by Jakarta to quell growing international anger over

Peter Hartcher and Tim Dodd – Australia and the US have intelligence that proves that the high command of the Indonesian army and a group of Indonesian Cabinet ministers are complicit i

David Jenkins – It is Sunday afternoon in Jakarta and a colleague of Xanana Gusmao is sitting in a deserted hotel lounge discussing political developments in East Timor.

Jakarta – The chief of the UN Mission in East Timor asked the Indonesian armed forces on Wednesday to rein in pro-Indonesian militia before a planned vote on self-determination there ne

With the rise of militia activity in a number of regencies in the last eight months has led to an increase in violence perpetrated against the general population.

The situation of internally displaced people (IDP's) in East Timor is worsening by the day.

The Indonesian Government has condemned an attack by pro-Jakarta militias on a United Nations-escorted aid convoy in East Timor, and has promised to investigate the incident.

Jakarta – Pro-independence Timorese leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta met Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto here Monday to discuss the precarious security situation

Manatuto – The UN mission in East Timoris checking allegations of an illegal voter registration drive ahead of an August ballot on autonomy or independence in this Indonesian-ruled terr