Mark Dodd, Dili – A former member of the independence movement Fretilin, Dr Abilio Araujo, expelled for his links with Indonesia, has returned to East Timor after 26 years' self-imposed exile in Portugal to contest the election on August 30.

Unidentified assailants have thrown stones at a vehicle carrying Democratic Party (PD) supporters on a campaign tour of the Liquiga district west of the East Timorese capital.

The incident, which took place early Monday evening, left one car window smashed but no-one hurt and was only reported to police on Tuesday.

[Source: RDP Antena 1 radio, Lisbon, in Portuguese. Excerpt from report by Portuguese radio on 14 August]

Joe Leahy – Antonio, a farmer in the arid highlands south of East Timor's capital Dili, points at a distant ridgeline. That is where his family's traditional houses were before Indonesia invaded in 1975.

[Source: RDP Antena 1 radio, Lisbon, in Portuguese]

Certain political parties have resorted to door knocking campaigns forcing people to vote for them. This was brought up at a dialogue session with the Democrat Party (PD) campaign manager who visited Aileu on Saturday.

Thousands of people made their way to Dili on Saturday to take part in the UDT mammoth campaign. UDT supporters in buses and trucks toured the city shouting slogans and waving victory signs before they reached the Democracy field to hear UDT leaders and candidates speak. At the Democracy Field, supporters and on-lookers were entertained by the popular rock band Vi-Almaa-X.

Mark Dodd, Dili – His name is distinctive, and in coming months Australians may hear a lot more of the East Timorese independence leader LuOlo. The Department of Foreign Affairs certainly thinks so, and earlier this year he was flown to Canberra to meet ministry mandarins for talks and a chance for them to get to know the man and the policies he represents.

Mark Dodd – An Australian-funded program teaching East Timorese to reject corruption hopes to make an impact on political parties competing in national elections this month for an 88-seat constituent assembly.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – The Indonesian military directed a militia campaign of killings, terror and forced deportation against East Timorese civilians, according to a new book on the 1999 atrocities.

Mark Dodd in Dili and Craig Skehan in Canberra – An East Timorese militia leader who served in the Indonesian Army's special forces and is on trial for war crimes – including the murder of a nun – says he was trained by Australian soldiers.

Warren Caragata, Dili – It's the road from nowhere, but it's surprisingly busy. Mafalda Florindo and Isabella Antonine walk along it, smiling betel-stained grins as they talk about cloth they had just bought for a good price. A little farther, Alicin Soares, a rice grower, maneuvers his truck along the dusty track.

Warren Caragata, Dili – The big UN Land Rover that carries Xanana Gusmao and his bodyguards from event to event should have a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be doing practically anything else." Anyone who doubts that's the case should watch him when he has a camera in his hands.

Nigel Wilson – For months there have been rumours of problems in the "co-operative" arrangement to develop more than 12 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Timor Sea. Yesterday those rumours were confirmed – with gusto.

The Indonesian government has rejected a United Nations proposal for a land link between East Timor and its Oecussi enclave in West Timor, a report said Thursday.

The refusal of the proposal by the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was based on security considerations, said East Nusa Tenggara province vice governor Yohanes Pake Pani.

Mark Dodd, Maliana – Every day a group of women meet at the shop called Nove Nove (Nine Nine) in bustling Maliana market. They share a chilling legacy. In the ninth month of the 99th year they all lost their husbands during a frenzy of army and militia killings that followed the referendum for self-determination.

Electoral officials in Dili said Thursday that final voters' lists for East Timor's August 30 constituent assembly elections contained 409,019 eligible voters, after additions made in corrections of faulty preliminary lists.

Mark Dodd – A court holding the territory's first war crimes trial heard graphic evidence yesterday about the torture and murder of a pro-independence guerilla by Indonesian special forces.

Kupang – Police forcibly evacuated some 500 former prointegration militiamen from East Timor on Tuesday. Grouped under the Indonesian Veterans Legion (LVRI), they demonstrated at the governor's office demanding that the Indonesian government pay greater attention to their future.

Jon Land – With elections to the country's first post-occupation Constituent Assembly due on August 30, East Timor's socialists are building up their support across the country and are confident of good results.

The Socialist Party of Timor is unique amongst all the parties contesting the elections: it's the only one running on an openly socialist and Marxist platform.

Vaudine England – Aid groups may be reluctant to return to refugee camps in West Timor with as many personnel as before, despite the UN giving the go-ahead for workers to go back.

[Excerpt from report by Asih Nurhayati by Indonesian Satunet news web site on 6 August.]

An East Timorese Jose Amaral (29) caught entering East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) claimed on Saturday said he was sent to spy on the activities of TNI/Polri Indonesian National Military Forces/Police and former pro-integrationist militia leaders in Belu district.

Mark Dodd – East Timorese officials have hailed President Megawati Sukarnoputri's decision to expand the terms of an Indonesian tribunal investigating violence in East Timor in 1999.

[Source: Kompas Cyber Media web site, Jakarta, Auguse 3]

Denpasar – If civilians refuse to surrender their weapons as ordered by security personnel, the military will not hesitate to shoot them. This statement was made by IX/Udayana Military Area Commander Maj-Gen Willem T da Costa on Thursday in Denpasar.

The United Nations is to reduce its presence in East Timor in spite of Security Council members' reservations about the new administration in Jakarta.

East Timor's transitional government on Thursday moved forward with a controversial plan to adopt Portuguese as the country's official language by announcing it would recruit 723 Portuguese language teachers.

An Indonesian military commander has ordered his troops to arrest East Timorese militiamen who are still operating from refugee camps in neighbouring West Timor, the official Antara news agency said Wednesday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – In a surprise move, American company Phillips Petroleum and its joint venture partners have deferred indefinitely plans to build a $1.5 billion Timor Sea to Darwin natural gas pipeline.

In a letter sent to United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan on July 26, Phillips cited "critical legal and fiscal issues" as the reason for the deferment.

About 19,800 coffee farmers in Timor Lorosae have to swallow the bitter pill because of sharp falls in worldwide coffee prices. On 10 May the price of export quality coffee fetched US$0.6855 on the world markets. On 27 July, however, the price fell to US$0.5130.

Jon Land – As campaigning for the Constituent Assembly elections slowly gathers momentum across East Timor, the installation of Megawati Sukarnoputri as Indonesia's new president has drawn a mixed response from East Timor's political leaders and human rights groups.

On 6 and 7 June, the Indonesian government went ahead with controversial plans to register East Timorese refugees in West Timor and determine whether they wished to remain in Indonesia or return to East Timor.

The United Nations Security Council yesterday decided to extend the presence of UNTAET in Timor Lorosae till early 2002. However, Indonesia warned that the extension of UNTAET's mandate must not have any hidden agenda that could affect Jakarta.

Ongoing corrections to preliminary voters lists in East Timor have included an additional 18,000 names and will bring the total electorate for August 30 constituent assembly elections to more than 400,000, electoral commission official Carlos Valenzuela said Monday.

UN transition administration officials acknowledged Monday that issues of justice and human rights in East Timor remain a problem but dismissed a negative Amnesty International report as "exaggerated".

Tapol today expressed dismay at a controversial decision on Wednesday by the Dili District Court to release Dr Sergio Lobo – a surgeon at the Dili Hospital and candidate in the forthcoming constituent assembly elections on 30 August – from detention in Becora prison and to place him under house detention until his forthcoming trial, while allowing him to go to the hospital each day

Sydney – Justice and human rights in East Timor are still not guaranteed even though a UN administration in the former Indonesian territory will end its mission there in a few months, Amnesty International said.

Four groups of international observers and eight East Timorese organizations have already registered with Dili electoral officials to monitor the territory's first free vote on August 30.

Mark Dodd, Kupang – In what will probably be the last refugee repatriation voyage, 179 East Timorese boarded the Patricia Anne Hotung this week homeward bound for Dili and a fresh start.

Negotiations between East Timor, Australia and oil companies working Timor Gap offshore fields have bogged down over tax issues, with the companies saying they fear Dili may be seeking to impose higher rates than expected.

Irwin Arieff, United Nations – The United Nations said on Wednesday it would reduce its presence in East Timor after the tiny territory gained its independence, expected early in 2002, but had to stay on alert against militias in neighboring West Timor as long as Indonesia failed to disband them.

Mark Dodd – The Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Belo has indicated support for a Fretilin victory at the election for a Constituent Assembly on August 30.

East Timor's official television and radio station's have begun broadcasting the second round of campaign messages allotted political parties and independent candidates contesting the August 30 constituent assembly elections.

A joint campaign by seven political parties to hit the hustings in Lospalos Monday was called off because transportation promised by UNTAET failed to turn up.

Mark Dodd, Aileu – When it came time to harvest new varieties of sweet potato in an agriculture project in Aileu, an East Timor mountain town, the response was overwhelming – the farmers made off with most of the cuttings.

Yogyakarta – Some fifty members from East Timorese prointegration groups held a modest ceremony on Tuesday at Yogyakarta's East Timor Students Dormitory to celebrate what they called "the 25th anniversary of East Timor's integration to Indonesia".

Avelinho Coelho, the secretary-general of the Timor Socialist Party (PST) said the Constituent Assembly to be formed after the 30 August election must not be structured like the now-dissolved National Council.

Mark Dodd, Viqueque – East Timorese voters have sent their political leaders a strong message to end violence and work towards improving living standards and social services.

A team dispatched to verify rumors of planned election violence in East Timor reported Wednesday they had found the territory's "most vulnerable" areas "calm and serene".

East Timorese electoral officials Wednesday acknowledged "systematic failures" in the preparation of voters' lists for the August 30 constituent assembly balloting and appealed to the population to carefully check posted preliminary lists.

A Defensive Alexander Downer undoubtedly has his eyes on the history books with the publication of the Government's apologia for its handling of the East Timor crisis. But East Timor in Transition 1998-2000, the official Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade account of the tumultuous period and Australia's role in mediating the crisis, deserves more than cursory dismissal.