Ahmad Pathoni, Dili – East Timor's election commission rejected on Thursday calls for a vote recount as the tiny nation looked set for a presidential run-off between Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and the ruling Fretilin Party's candidate.

Abdul Khalik, Dili – Opening his math book, Manuel da Silva, 17, discovered he had something to clarify before he could finish the homework his teacher had given him.

"I don't understand question number three," he told his teacher in Indonesian, his eyes not moving from his Indonesian-language textbook

['Negligent Neighbour: New Zealand's Complicity in the Invasion and Occupation of Timor-Leste' by Maire Leadbeater. 280 pages $34.99Craig Potton Publishing.]

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timorese voted in record numbers yesterday in a peaceful election for president. There were few signs of violence, particularly in Dili where politically motivated gangs have been fighting pitched battles for months.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Hundreds of thousands of East Timorese queued for hours under a blazing sun yesterday to choose a new president in the first election wholly run by the young country.

Joe Humphreys – It is the first such ballot since the country gained independence in 2002 – after 21/2 years of transitional rule by the UN, and a 24-year occupation by an often brutal Indonesian military.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Jose Ramos Horta went to Easter mass at the weekend with "a host of sins" to confess, not least of which was having entertained lustful thoughts towards the film star Jennifer Lopez while presenting her with a prize in Berlin last year.

Ahmad Pathoni, Dili – East Timorese streamed to the polls on Monday to vote for a new president, hoping the election can help end deep divisions after a year of instability in one of the world's youngest and poorest nations.

Damien Kingsbury – Those who view East Timor's politics as largely benign describe the mood before tomorrow's presidential election as "dynamic". Those who view the situation more ominously describe the environment as "fluid". Either way, it is likely that the outcome expected just a few days ago has been thrown into doubt.

John Aglionby, Dili – When East Timor's 600,000 voters head to the polls Monday for the first round of a presidential election they do so aware that their choice will resonate far beyond which of eight candidates they select to fill the largely ceremonial position.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Leading candidates in East Timor's presidential election have accused each other of manipulating tomorrow's vote as officials race to deliver ballot papers to 500 polling centres, many of them in remote villages.

It's five years on from independence, and as the troubled country gears up for Monday's elections, people there tell Joe Humphreys how they see the future.

Fabio Scarpello – Fiery campaigner Ceu Lopes, 50, was active during her fledgling nation's 24-year struggle against the occupation by Indonesia.

John Martinkus – There was a moment this week in Dili when it looked as though the increasingly bitter race for the presidency would spill over into violence.

On Thursday afternoon, as supporters of Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta gathered to attend a rally, a convoy of rival Fretilin supporters drove past.

Dili – Half the candidates in East Timor's presidential poll said Friday they fear many attempts have been made to manipulate the election process ahead of Monday's vote.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese resistance hero Xanana Gusmao has promised he will unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenue held in a New York escrow bank account if he is elected prime minister.

Karen Michelmore, Dili – The distinctive buzz of motorcycles can be heard in the distance, growing increasingly louder.

Within seconds more than 30 motorbikes, engines revving and adorned with party flags and posters, spill into the dilapidated compound, the headquarters of East Timor's major political party, Fretilin, in the capital Dili.

London – Candidates in Timor-Leste's presidential election on April 9 should publicly commit to addressing the country's human rights problems and propose needed institutional reforms, Human Rights Watch said today.

Ahmad Pathoni, Dili – A former East Timorese independence fighter jailed by Indonesia for six years pledged on Wednesday to unite his conflict-torn country and bring justice to its people, as the final day of election campaigning was marred by violence.

Fernando de Araujo, whose nom de guerre was La Sama, is among eight candidates running in Monday's presidential poll.

Max Lane – East Timor's presidential election campaign is now officially underway. Voting will be held on April 9. Max Lane spoke by phone with presidential candidate Avelino Coelho, secretary-general of the Socialist Party of Timor (PST).

What issues are people raising with you in your campaign?

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – With less than a week to go to the presidential elections in East Timor, the violence has not let up in this small island nation that was born in May 2002 after nearly five centuries of Portuguese colonial rule and 25 years of brutal occupation by Indonesia.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – Former president B.J. Habibie has often been synonymous with unpredictability. For a decade he was seen as Soeharto's crown prince loyalist, yet, as president, he introduced press freedom, freed political prisoners, initiated real autonomy for the regions, held free elections and presided over an orderly succession of head of state.

Dili – The candidates for next week's East Timor presidential election should publicly commit to addressing the country's human rights problems and propose reforms, a rights group said Wednesday.

"Institutional weaknesses in the police, military and judiciary have fuelled the current crisis in Timor-Leste," Human Rights Watch researcher Charmain Mohamed said.

Karen Michelmore, Baucau – Two people were injured when supporters of rival political parties clashed during campaigning in East Timor's presidential elections, a candidate said today.

Rod McGuirk, Dili – Machete-wielding gangs roam the dusty streets of Asia's newest nation, torching homes and shooting each other as international troops struggle to keep order. Nearly 40,000 refugees remain in crowded camps, too afraid to return home.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A number of human rights monitoring groups have accused the recently-completed second phase of Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) hearings of having distorted facts regarding human rights violations that occurred during Timor Leste's 1999 referendum.

John Aglionby, Dili – Xanana Gusmao, East Timor president, on Thursday accused the ruling Fretilin party of corruption, arrogance and mismanagement that had put the fledgling country on a path of violence and economic stagnation since its 2002 independence.

Jakarta – Top Indonesian military officer claimed Friday that violence in East Timor was triggered by widespread cheating from United Nations body overseeing the territory's historic 1999 vote for independence.

Dili – Gangs from rival political parties scuffled and threw rocks in East Timor, injuring at least 20 people, authorities said Friday, in what was believed to be the first violence directly related to next month's presidential elections.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – An ex-Indonesian Military (TNI) officer has told the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship that the TNI complied with Indonesian law at the time of Timor Leste's 1999 referendum.

Geoff Thompson – The former head of Indonesian military intelligence has cited an Australian 60 Minutes television crew as an example of the United Nations trying to influence the outcome of East Timor's independence referendum in 1999.

Major General Zacky Anwar Makarim is a former member of Kopassus and chief of Indonesian military intelligence.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – An East Timorese woman has told how she was repeatedly raped by a pro-Indonesia militia member in the months after the nation's historic 1999 referendum "because the pro-independence won".

The only Indonesian jailed over the violence surrounding East Timor's historic 1999 independence vote has apologised to Indonesia for the unrest that tainted its international image.

Pro-autonomy militia commander Eurico Gutteres also called on the people of East Timor to unite and move past the violence of the past, in order to build a strong independent nation.

Dili – The political tension is rising in the East Timorese capital, Dili where President Xanana Gusmao has accepted the leadership of a new party that has been labelled as "a nest of liars," by former prime minister, Mari Alkatiri.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – The Indonesian president who allowed the East Timor referendum on independence said on Tuesday the mayhem that followed the vote could have been avoided had the United Nations not declared the result earlier than agreed.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado has again humiliated Australian troops hunting him in East Timor's mountains, this time releasing a letter telling his supporters how they should vote in presidential elections.

Paul Toohey – A failed effort to heal an injured child has led to the machete killings of three East Timorese women branded as sorcerers.

Karen Michelmore, Jakarta – East Timor's United Nations-sponsored vote for independence was a fraud, Dili's former mayor and alleged militia organiser said today.

"The United Nations condemns all violence and acts that support of violence in East Timor, calls for their immediate end, and demands that all those responsible for such violence be brought to justice" (Security Council Resolution, 1999)

Max Lane – On April 9, East Timor will hold its second presidential election, which will be followed by parliamentary elections. The East Timorese political system combines a president, who is commander-in-chief of the army and who has veto powers over legislation, with an executive cabinet headed by a prime minister who is elected by the parliament.

Dili – A fugitive East Timor rebel leader, who has eluded a manhunt by crack Australian troops, is at the centre of fears that unrest could mar the country's landmark presidential election next month.

Stephen Skinner – Timorese people are starving on our doorstep. That's the blunt report being received in Darwin by former Territory Government agricultural scientist Rob Wesley-Smith, who's better known as a long-time East Timor activist.

East Timor's fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado fired on Australian troops before they shot back, killing five of his supporters, Australia's military commander in the country says.

Brigadier Mal Rerden yesterday said Australian troops, who had Reinado surrounded at his mountain base earlier this month, did everything they could to convince him to surrender.

Dili – Street violence and worries about renegade soldiers are disrupting preparations for next month's elections in East Timor – polls seen as crucial to the tiny nation's future – an official said Wednesday.

Mark Dodd, Dili – The UN has admitted holding talks with the lawyers for East Timor army fugitive Alfredo Reinado after twice denying it was involved in negotiations to secure his surrender.

[The following letter was written by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Progressio and TAPOL.]

Francisco Guterres (Lu'Olo)
President of the National Parliament
National Parliament
Dili Timor-Leste

14 March 2007

Dear Mr Guterres,

Jeff Kingston – East Timor is an ill-starred land that has endured more than its share of violence, neglect and deprivation. Since February 2007 there has been a renewed surge in violence, initially due to gang turf battles and increasingly aggressive clashes between gangs and international peacekeepers.

Rod McGuirk, Dili – East Timorese election authorities said Saturday that all eight candidates had been approved to contest this divided nation's presidential polls next month.

Dennis Shanahan – It used to be a proud boast of Australian troops on the ground in East Timor in the latest security assignment that they had never fired a shot. Not one; not into the air and certainly not at people.

A measure of calm has returned to the streets of Dili after the violence which erupted again last weekend in the wake of the failed attempt to capture fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado. Some fear this is merely the calm before a bigger storm. And calm is a relative term.