Annastashya Emmanuelle, Jakarta – The internal rift within the beleaguered United Development Party (PPP), mainly between the veterans and the newcomers, is widening as evidenced by fre

Dili – Almost anywhere else there would be unalloyed delight in an 86-per cent turn-out for a presidential election.

Jill Jolliffe – Guerrilla hero Jose "Xanana" Gusmao is expected to win a sweeping victory today in a poll for East Timor's first elected head of state, despite an organised attempt to r

Jill Jolliffe – It could have been a Meet the Press show anywhere in the world – two presidential candidates on stage in elegant suits fielding questions before an audience of politicia

Hamish McDonald – A tropical cyclone has been hovering close to East Timor, dumping frequent rain on a mountainous island still in wet-season green and leaving officials wondering if th

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Tomorrow, East Timor votes for its first president, taking its final steps towards independence.

[East Timor approaches the last formal step in its long hard road to democracy and independence – on Sunday the people go to the polls to elect a president.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) seems to be trying to use the on-going ad hoc human rights trial to wash its hands of gross human rights violations in East Timor,

Jakarta – The highest-ranking Indonesian officer implicated in a wave of violence that swept East Timor in 1999 defended its former police chief on Thursday, telling a court he had save

East Timor's two presidential candidates publicly embraced each other Thursday in Dili, appealing to voters to cast ballots in Sunday's election, the last political milestone before the

Indonesia's powerful former military chief, General Wiranto, has published a book giving his version of East Timor's bloody 1999 breakaway, as he campaigns to clear himself of responsib

Jakarta – Former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen.

UN transition administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello went to East Timor's border with Indonesia Wednesday to welcome a group of returning refugees, marking the repatriation of 200,000 peo

Dili – East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao rode on horseback through streets lined with adoring supporters here Monday as the campaign for the presidency of the world's newest na

Claire Harvey and A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The United Nations' reconstruction effort in East Timor will continue for at least the next decade, a military expert said on Monday.

Tony Parkinson – Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid is planning to attend East Timor's independence celebrations next month, amid increasing doubts that his successor, Megawa

Yogita Tahilramani, Jakarta – Internal disputes within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) took on a new dimension on Monday when PDI Perjuangan members protest

Sydney – East Timorese voters go to the polls next week to pick the person who will declare their country independent next month.

1512 - Portuguese explorers reach Timor, an island already known to Chinese as a source of sandalwood

1556 - Dominican friary opens at Lifau, in the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave

Dili – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, 66, only had nine days as East Timor's first president in 1975.

Dili – The candidates are on the campaign trail, polling staff are ready and the stage is nearly set for East Timor's first presidential election, UNTAET's election chief announced toda

Why is Francisco Xavier do Amaral running for president of East Timor when he knows he has no chance of winning?

Joanna Jolly, Aileu – On a soccer field in East Timor's central mountains, thousands came to hear Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao make his campaign pitch.

Jill Jolliffe, Atambua – The East Timorese presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao has joined forces with a former enemy soldier in an attempt to repatriate about 60,000 refugees trapped i

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are self-centered, and ignore the public interest they claim to represent, resulting in a crisis over a loss of confidence, a new p

Dili – Some members of East Timor's ruling party Fretilin were accused of waging a dirty tricks campaign to try to reduce the vote for independence hero Xanana Gusmao in this month's pr

Rita A.

Jill Jolliffe, Gleno – Just two weeks after a lopsided campaign began for East Timor's presidential elections due on April 14, there are signs that it may be turning dirty.

Joanne Collins, Jakarta – Whether he wants to lead the world's newest nation or not, East Timor's independence hero Xanana Gusmao looks bound to get the job.

Jakarta – Indonesia's newest political party, the United Development Party for Reforms (PPP-R), Sunday announced its new leadership line-up.

Carol Pineau, Dili – East Timor's reluctant president-in-waiting Xanana Gusmao said on Wednesday he would do his best if voters, as expected, choose him to lead the world's newest natio

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Detained Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung looks set to be ditched by his Golkar party in a move to avoid a damning probe into a financial scandal that coul

Carol Pineau, Dili – Independence leader and presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao is no longer a national leader, East Timor Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri said ahead of April 14 election

East Timor4s presidential election campaign kicked off Friday with a rally in Dili and UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello predicting a peaceful race.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – In a bitter power struggle, young Golkar hardliners are fighting a move by the more senior members to expel detained party chief Akbar Tandjung.

Dili – A candidate in East Timor's upcoming presidential election on Tuesday announced a concession which will allow his only rival, independence hero Xanana Gusmao, to stand in the pol

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia's former ruling Golkar party said it would not withdraw its ministers from the coalition government despite the detention of its chief over a graft scand

Joanna Jolly, Dili – The United Nations is optimistic that a dispute threatening the participation of East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in the nation's fi

Dili – East Timor's reluctant presidential favourite, Xanana Gusmao, threatened Saturday to withdraw from next month's elections over an electoral technicality.

Jakarta – Around 100 PDI Perjuangan members from Surabaya, East Java, demonstrated at the party's headquarters on Jl.

Dominic Whiting, Bangkok – East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao, the front-runner to lead the nascent Southeast Asian state, said on Tuesday he wanted to be defeated in his countr

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais has openly declared that he will quit the leadership of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in a move seen as a public relatio

Nusa Dua – Around 170 political parties have so far registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to contest the 2004 general election.

Joanna Jolly, Dili – Independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, a potent symbol of East Timor's resistance during decades of Indonesian rule, on Saturday officially declared hi

Jill Jolliffe, Oecussi – East Timor's revolutionary hero, Xanana Gusmao, was met by enthusiastic village crowds this week as the stage was set for him to become president of the 21st ce

Dili – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, a Deputy Speaker of the Constituent Assembly, received a second nomination today for president.

Independence leader Xanana Gusmao said Wednesday he had not yet decided whether he would run for the presidency of East Timor in April 14 elections, adding that he would not bow to "pre

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Even against a background of other political parties with noisy internal disputes, Golkar still manages to stand out in the face of the 2004 general elections, t

Jakarta – Indonesia's second largest and former ruling party, Golkar, has dismissed 16 senior members and suspended three others, it was announced.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – As the beleaguered Golkar Party seeks to remove the thorn in its flesh, a party top official warned on Thursday of tough measures against staunch critic and seni