TIMOR TODAY 15 March 2000

For full text see… http://www.easttimor.com/

PHOTOS:

a) East Timorese leader Jose Alexandre "Xannana" Gusmao comforts weeping demonstrators during a visit by President Wahid of Indonesia on February 29, 2000. (AP Photo/Ed Wray)

NEWS

1) Gusmao to UN: Get Tougher 15/03/00 (Sydney Morning Herald) East Timor's independence leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, has blamed the Indonesian Special Forces command, Kopassus, for a spate of recent attacks and cross-border incursions into the devastated UN administered territory.

2) Apologists Are Revising History to Absolve Jakarta 15/03/00 (The Age) Indonesia would not have been able to illegally occupy and terrorise East Timor for a quarter of a century without the support it received from the West, particularly Australia.

3) East Timor and Australia's oily politics 15/03/00 (World Socialist Web Site) Among the most revealing aspects of recent events in East Timor has been the almost complete silence in Australian media and political circles about the two agreements signed by the Australian government last month to secure control over the multi-billion dollar oil and natural gas reserves beneath the Timor Sea.

4) Timor a two-year job, says Cosgrove 15/03/00 (The Australian) WELLINGTON: UN forces would need to stay in East Timor for at least two years to ensure a successful transition to independence, Interfet commander Peter Cosgrove said yesterday.

5) Evidence of TNI's direct role in killings 15/03/00 (The Christian Science Monitor) Battalion 745 first came to our attention after the death of Sander Thoenes last September. But during his travels around East Timor, the Monitor's Cameron Barr kept hearing disturbing reports about the unit.

REPORTS

6) UNTAET Humanitarian Pillar Situation Reports 11 to 13 Mar 2000/09 to 10 Mar 2000 15/03/00 (UNTAET) DILI - Returns: The total number of organised and spontaneous returns into East Timor from West Timor, other parts of Indonesia, Macau and Australia now stands at 151,483 persons.

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