News focus: RI, Timor Leste express remorse over Dili atrocities

"The two governments expressed their regret in a joint statement signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his Timor Leste counterpart Ramos Horta, and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Bali on Tuesday. Both governments signed the 14-point joint...

East Timorese rebel leader close to surrender: U.N.

"She said authorities were in talks with Gastao Salsinha, the right-hand man of major Alfredo Reinado who was killed leading coordinated armed attacks on Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta on February 11."He is in a house in a village near Gleno in...

Xanana Gusmao visits Ramos Horta at Darwin hospital

"Brisbane (ANTARA News) - Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao accompanied by his wife arrived in Darwin, Northern Territory on Monday to pay a visit to ailing President Jose Ramos Horta at the Royal Darwin hospital.Timor Leste President Horta sustained serious gunshots...

Horta forgives rebel officer who tried to kill him

Brisbane (ANTARA News) - Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta has forgiven Alfredo Reinado, the rebel officer who was killed while leading an attack to assassinate him in Dili last February 11, Timor Leste`s Acting President Fernando `Lasama` de Araujo said.Horta who is...

East Timor to issue arrest warrants after assassination bidsEAS

Dili (ANTARA News/AFP) - East Timor is set to issue arrest warrants for 18 suspects following assassination bids on the president and prime minister this week, a senior official said Wednesday."On this preliminary list there are 18 names and this number may still grow,...

East Timor PM denounces rebel`s absence at peace talks

"The government had launched a massive manhunt for Alfredo Reinado, formerly of the military police, when he escaped from jail in August 2006. President Jose Ramos-Horta called off the search in June in a bid to start a dialogue."I will give Alfredo and Salsinha (one of...

East Timor soldiers jailed for killing police

"Judges at the Dili court found the four soldiers -- Raimundo Madeira, Nelson Fransisco, Fransisco Amaral and Armindo da Silva -- guilty of homicide in a shooting spree near the national police headquarters in May 2006, Reuters reported.The 600 soldiers, more than one third...

East Timor party says no boycott of government

Dili (ANTARA News) - East Timor's former ruling party will sit in parliament as the opposition despite insisting the country's new government is illegitimate and has no right to rule, the party chief said on Monday. Former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, who heads the Fretelin...