East Timor's maverick seemed desperate for martyrdom
Fabio Scarpello in Banda Aceh – When Alfredo Reinado died in a hail of gunfire outside the home of President Jose Ramos Horta yesterday, he was fulfilling a dream to either seize control of East Timor, or to go down in a blaze of glory trying.
Keiji Hirano, Tokyo – Human rights campaigners in Japan and East Timor have jointly made a set of panels for exhibition showing testimonies of former "comfort women" in the newly independent nation so the local people can learn about their history during the occupation by the Japanese military.
Jill Jolliffe – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is undergoing surgery at an Australian military base in the capital, Dili, after being shot twice in an attack on his home by rebels, a presidential adviser said today.
Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was shot and killed in the attack, according to Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres and an army spokesman.
John Aglionby, Jakarta – East Timor's president, Jose Ramos Horta, was shot in the stomach in a pre-dawn attack on his home by fugitive members of the country's armed forces, a presidential spokesman said Monday.
Seth Mydans and Tim Johnston – President Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor was shot and critically wounded at his home on Monday by renegade soldiers in an attack that threatened to intensify the continuing unrest that has destabilized the struggling young nation, according to reports from the capital, Dili.
Meg Munn MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
11 February 2008
Dear Ms Munn,
Dili – Eight unidentified men attacked a bus and killed three passengers near Los Palos, the Indonesian police said on Tuesday. The spokesman for the police in Dili, Colonel Muarfi, said that the attack took place last Sunday and that the three passengers were beaten to death.
Heather Stewart – While there has been relative calm during the wet season in East Timor, more than 100,000 East Timorese are living in appalling conditions in tent cities across Dili and in the fledgling nation's remote districts.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has promised a "year of reform" but the refugees have almost given up hope.
Loro Horta, Dili – Since the 2006 deployment of Australian peacekeeping troops to East Timor, the Australian Defense Force (ADF) has been confronted with a persistent anti-Australian sentiment from large sections of the population.
Dili – "It's when you see a child who looks nine but is actually 12 that you realise the extent of malnutrition in Timor Leste," Jean Flueren, the World Food Programme (WFP) country director, told IRIN. "Forty-six percent of children throughout the country are stunted," he said, and 42.6 percent of children under five are underweight, according to the WFP.
James Madden – The widow of one of the five journalists killed by the Indonesian military at Balibo in 1975 has labelled Paul Keating "ignorant" for attributing the blame for the murders to "irresponsible" Australian news organisations.
President Suharto of Indonesia, who died last month, was responsible for the invasion of East Timor in 1975, for its occupation for almost 25 years, for the murder of so many of its people and for the insecure and traumatised state it remains in despite its emergence as a free, new country six years ago
Dili – The building of the former Portuguese and Indonesian prison of Balide, Dili, hosts this week-end an exhibition dedicated to former political prisoners of East Timor between 1975 and 1999.
The exhibition is organised by the Association Memory Alive, which is dedicated to the collection of material on the prisoners Timorese under Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
Backgrounder on the Indonesia/Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship
1. This backgrounder provides a brief summary of the work of the controversial Indonesia/Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), which is due to report in February/March 2008.
Neil Campbell – An incident during my recent visit to Timor-Leste gave a useful insight into the difficult security conditions in the small, young and troubled independent state.
Dili – It was in October 2007 that 27-year-old Guillermina Freitas Corte Real entered Timor Leste national hospital in Dili, the capital city, for gall stone surgery.
Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – A truth commission into the violence in East Timor in 1999 risks becoming a "diplomatic charade" unless it delivers a strong and independent finding, a new report warns.
East Timor's Prime Minister wants international peacekeepers in his country to move away from security duties and focus instead on mentoring and training.
There are almost 800 New Zealand and Australian troops working on security duties in East Timor.
[Shakedown. By Paul Cleary. Allen & Unwin, 304pp, $29.95.]
Tim Johnston – The exercise of power is rarely a pretty thing to watch; but there is something particularly ugly in watching the inept exercise of power.
Indonesia – The government of Timor Leste has yet to conclude arrangements for Indonesians wishing to reclaim their assets deserted in the country post the 1999 secession referendum, East Nusa Tenggara Deputy Governor Frans Leburaya said Thursday.
Anne Barker – Recent monsoonal rains and wind have caused serious damage to homes, buildings and crops across East Timor. There are fears the damage could threaten food supplies in the already vulnerable nation.
Relief authorities in East Timor say wet season rains have caused serious damage in 11 of the country's 13 districts.
Dili – East Timor's laws should be translated into the local Tetun language to give people a better understanding and respect for the law, according to one of the country's legal experts.
East Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has refused to attend a scheduled court hearing to face murder and other charges related to a deadly outbreak of violence in 2006.
Mr Reinado escaped from jail in the capital, Dili, in August 2006 and has been on the run ever since.
East Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has refused to attend a scheduled court hearing on Thursday to face murder and other charges related to a deadly outbreak of violence in 2006.
Reinado's lawyer Benevides Barros said the rebel leader would not submit to the judicial process until the government met several demands.
Dili – Most child street vendors work the streets daily selling snacks, soft drinks, cigarettes and sweets with a profit of about US$10 to US$15 a day.
Fifteen-year-old Dominggos Obe hawks colorful shaved ices from a three-wheeled cart in East Timor's capital, one of a stream of youths arriving here from his poor hometown seeking a better life.
Dili – East Timor risks erupting in violence again if its government and the UN fail to quickly reform the country's security forces, which remain vulnerable to political abuse, a think-tank warned Friday.
East Timor's prosecutor general will not investigate claims the country's prime minister was behind deadly unrest that erupted in 2006, saying the allegations are "too political".
Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated the violence that plunged the country into crisis.
Mark Dodd – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has threatened to arrest local journalists, claiming inaccurate news reporting in the troubled territory is contributing to national instability.
Mr Gusmao told reporters they faced arrest if they persisted with reporting as fact rumours and other unsourced claims.
Thalif Deen, United Nations – The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), which monitors some 60 crisis-affected countries worldwide, has appealed for UN and international assistance to revitalize East Timor's fledgling police and armed services in order to avoid a potentially violent civil conflict in that relatively new nation state.
Michael Heath – East Timor faces renewed violence unless it reorganizes the army and police, the International Crisis Group said, almost two years after clashes between security force factions drove 155,000 people from their homes.
Tito Belo, Dili – East Timor's president urged Timorese to pray for Suharto, the former Indonesian president who ordered the brutal invasion of East Timor in 1975 and who now lies critically ill in hospital.
There's been another twist in East Timor's increasingly bitter internal politics, with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri demanding that current prime minister Xanana Gusmao resign. Dr Alkatiri's demand follows claims from rebel leader Alfredo Reinado that Mr Gusmao orchestrated deadly unrest in 2006, in which at least 20 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
East Timor's former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has called on current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to resign, amid claims he orchestrated deadly unrest that erupted in 2006.
Nick Butterly and Joe Stolley in Canberra – The wife and children of slain East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado have been granted permanent residency in Australia after pleading with the Rudd Government to grant them political asylum.
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – When Iraqi journalist Muntader Al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President George W. Bush it was to many, myself included, a deja vu.
Contents
Jill Joliffe – Families of victims of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor have found Christmas hope with a project to locate mass graves of youths who disappeared without trace.
Dili – East Timor's parliament has approved a state budget of nearly $350 million for 2008 that aims to improve security and tackle poverty in Asia's youngest nation.
Factional bloodshed broke out in the impoverished country of about 1 million people last year, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Thalif Deen, United Nations – When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his first official visit to East Timor (Timor-Leste) last week, he was conscious of the growing demands for accountability for crimes committed during Indonesia's invasion and subsequent occupation of that relatively new nation state.
Dili – A rebel soldier wanted on murder charges in East Timor has one "last chance" to surrender peacefully with his armed supporters or face the government's response, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said Sunday.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – In East Timor, they say, you only really know a man once he's betrayed you. Until then, you can never be entirely sure where he stands.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given his strongest indication yet that Australian troops will remain in East Timor until 2009.
Dili – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he'd discussed the 1975 deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
NSW Deputy Coroner Dorelle Pinch last month found the Balibo Five were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops to cover up the invasion of East Timor.
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.
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.
The Rudd government appears to be backing away from any government involvement in prosecutions relating to the death of five Australian-based newsmen in East Timor in 1975.
Last month, NSW deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch found the men, known as the Balibo Five, were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops in 1975 to cover up the invasion of East Timor.
Ian Munro – East Timor is pressing for an extension of the United Nations mission (UNMIT) to support the country's fledgling democracy.
While the country's political and security situation was calm and stable, it was also fragile according to the leader of the council's mission to East Timor, South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo.
Fabio Scarpello – The diminutive Maria Ana Pereira, 28, does not look for excuses. The widow simply accepts that life is tough in Hudi Laram, a neighbourhood southwest of East Timor's capital, Dili, where she is struggling to raise her seven children.