East Timor Indonesia

Ignoring threats of international intervention, anti-independence militiamen in East Timor attacked the U.N. compound in Baukau on Tuesday, forcing the U.N. staff and a prominent Roman Catholic bishop to flee. The attack on Baukau, a town previously spared militia violence, came as martial law was being imposed on East Timor by the Indonesian government. The approximately 100 U.N.

East Timor prosecutors said today that they had issued arrest warrants for 12 suspects in attacks on the country's top two leaders. Atty. Gen. Longuinhos Monteiro told reporters in the capital, Dili, that five more warrants were likely. The names of the suspects were not released. Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Jose Ramos-Horta was critically wounded by gunmen Monday outside his home. His guards killed a wanted militant leader during the attack.

After denying responsibility for the devastation of East Timor, Indonesia's security minister said Wednesday that he will not address demands for his resignation until he explains his stance to President Abdurrahman Wahid upon Wahid's return Sunday from a European and Asian tour. Gen. Wiranto, who uses one name, told the Cabinet that people should "wait for a fair legal process" before he chooses to "resign or not resign."

Foreign peacekeepers handcuffed machete-wielding arsonists in a show of force aimed at quelling violence in East Timor's capital, Dili. Mobs continued burning houses as Australian troops patrolled on foot, in armored vehicles and by helicopter. At least 27 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded since clashes erupted last week. Many demonstrators want President Jose Alexandre Gusmao to dissolve Parliament and Prime Minister Mari Bin Amude Alkatiri to step down.

After two weeks of chaos and terror in East Timor, Indonesia's powerful military boss sang "Feelings" on Sunday to show why he can't walk away from the independence-minded territory. To cheers from retired military officers at a party, Defense Minister Gen. Wiranto dedicated the song to foreign journalists: "I hope you have the same feelings, like me, for East Timor."

State-appointed investigators have dug up mass graves containing the bodies of 25 people allegedly killed in the worst single massacre committed by anti-independence militias and Indonesian troops in East Timor, a press report said today. The decaying corpses were discovered in West Timor at Oeuli Beach, nearly 2 miles from the border with the eastern half of the island, which is now under U.N. administration.

Indonesian troops here were placed on high alert Tuesday in anticipation of a U.N. Security Council vote creating an Australian-led peacekeeping force for East Timor, Western military sources said.

The Security Council early this morning authorized an Australian-led interim peacekeeping force to stop the violence that has ravaged East Timor since its people voted for independence from Indonesia on Aug. 30. A multinational force of 5,000 to 7,000 troops, including soldiers from neighboring Asian nations specially requested by Indonesia, could be on the ground as early as this weekend.

Nearly 300 British Gurkha riflemen arrived here Thursday to join an international peacekeeping force in the final stages of preparation for deployment to violence-torn East Timor. The Gurkhas, an elite unit of Nepalese based in Brunei, are the first soldiers from another nation to link up with Australian units, which will lead the international force on what commanders acknowledge could be a dangerous mission. "For Australia, this is going to give us a real challenge," Adm.

President Clinton on Thursday suspended military relations with Indonesia and hinted at further steps, including economic and trade sanctions, unless the Southeast Asian nation quickly restores civil order in East Timor or allows an international peacekeeping force to do so. "If Indonesia does not end the violence, it must invite--it must invite--the international community to assist in restoring security," the president said.

An internationally funded report supports claims that Indonesian soldiers intentionally killed five foreign journalists who were covering Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor. The Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission report was presented to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week. It has yet to be made public, but portions were seen by Associated Press.

Indonesia has vowed to investigate the military-led violence that accompanied East Timor's vote for independence in 1999, naming members of a joint truth commission who will have the power to probe the bloodshed but not prosecute. Victims and human rights workers decried the decision, saying the United Nations should continue to push for an international tribunal.

East Timor's former governor was released from jail in Jakarta, Indonesia, after a court over-turned his conviction in connection with violence that left up to 2,000 East Timorese dead, officials said. Abilio Jose Soares was the only Indonesian official to be punished for the bloodshed that accompanied the former province's 1999 United Nations-sponsored vote for independence.

Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of East Timor's former governor for his role in the 1999 violence there, and he will be released within days, the ex-governor and media reports said today. Jose Abilio Soares was the first -- and remains the only -- Indonesian official punished for the bloodshed that accompanied East Timor's independence after a U.N.-sponsored referendum ended 24 years of Indonesian rule.

An Indonesian court Tuesday found a top army general guilty of crimes against humanity stemming from bloodshed during East Timor's independence vote in 1999. The verdict capped a series of court cases that rights groups have largely branded a whitewash. The special human rights court sentenced Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri to three years in jail. He was regional commander at the time of the violence and the top general to be tried. "The defendant is guilty....

An Indonesian court sentenced a militia leader to 10 years in prison Wednesday for crimes committed during East Timor's bloody move to independence. Eurico Guterres listened impassively as the judge read the sentence -- the harshest yet in a series of trials of Indonesian officers, officials and militiamen accused of inciting or allowing the violence after East Timor's independence vote Aug. 30, 1999.

East Timor prosecutors said today that they had issued arrest warrants for 12 suspects in attacks on the country's top two leaders. Atty. Gen. Longuinhos Monteiro told reporters in the capital, Dili, that five more warrants were likely. The names of the suspects were not released. Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Jose Ramos-Horta was critically wounded by gunmen Monday outside his home. His guards killed a wanted militant leader during the attack.

Indonesia and Australia agreed to hold emergency talks after weekend violence in East Timor in which up to 30 people died. The nations announced the meeting between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and President B.J. Habibie as Indonesia finalized an autonomy package on which East Timorese are scheduled to vote in July.

Two Indonesian soldiers were among seven people indicted for killing a Dutch journalist and 19 others during East Timor's independence struggle in 1999. Financial Times reporter Sander Thoenes was the last of 20 people killed in a rampage in the former Indonesian province by Battalion 745, the U.N. said. The indictment of Maj. Jacob Sarosa, Lt. Camilo dos Santos and five militia members marks the first time anyone has been charged in Thoenes' death.