[Poster's note: Repeats of international articles already sent out to the east-timor list (info@etan.org) have been removed.]

Friday, 26 October 2007 UNMIT – MEDIA MONITORING

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National Media Reports

More UN support needed for the justice sector The Fretilin parliamentarian, Domingos Sarmento has called upon the United Nations to provide more assistance to Timor-Leste in the area of justice sector reform.

Speaking to the journalists on Thursday (25/10) in the national parliament, Mr. Sarmento said that the UN needs to give its support, especially in the area of training Timorese judges and prosecutors.

“The current support is not sufficient, as illustrated by the large number of pending legal cases,” said Mr. Sarmento. (DN)

High level commission: no decision on Reinado According to the Prime Minister, the High Level Commission, appointed to solve the issue of the former military commander, Alfredo Reinado, has not made a decision.

Speaking to journalists, the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão said several meetings have been held, although none have focused on the political principles at the heart of the problem.

However, he said a major milestone happened last weekend when President José Ramos-Horta met Reinado along with a dialogue expert Joaquim Fonseca.

According to Prime Minister Gusmão, the government with other representatives will meet the Petitioners in November. (TP)

Xanana: the government and Alfredo has commitment to end the crisis The Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmão said there are positive signs after a meeting between the State Secretary of Security Jose Guterres, the dialogue expert Joaquim Fonseca and Alfredo Reinado and his men in Suai district and Gleno.

Mr. Gusmão said that both Reinado and the Government have commitment to solve the problem promptly.

“We discussed all things including solving the issue with respect to political and legal principles as contained within Timorese law and the Constitution,” Mr Gusmão said.

PNTL members will be rotated The Interim Commander of the PNTL, Afonso de Jesus has announced that all PNTL officers will be rotated to different locations across the country.

He added that the rotations will commence once the construction of six new barracks is completed.

“So far there are six barracks of PNTL in the six different districts; this constructions means more barracks in more districts to facilitate PNTL duties,” said Mr. de Jesus.

He added that these barracks also will be used by new members of PNTL and will mean that police officers can live within their districts, closer to their families. (STL)

Solving IDPsproblem, PM Gusmão leads the intermediary commission The Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão will lead a Special Commission to oversee the fund that will administer the IDP problem.

The announcement follows a meeting of Ministries on Thursday that met to discuss the IDP problem and how to prioritise a response across all Government departments.

The State Secretary for Council Ministry Affairs, Agio Pereira said that the Government is looking for solutions for IDPs and will take advice from the Technical Team comprised on national and international advisors. (STL and DN)

The national parliament to revise the electoral law The Commission A of the National Parliament has received a plan from the electoral specialist organization, IFES and UNMIT and how to revise the electoral law.

The President of Commission A, Fernanda Borges said that the Commission now has a plan for how to assist in the area of electoral law revision. (STL)

PM Xanana Gusmão: “Never say that the presence of ISF is illegal” The Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão said that never say that the presence of International Security Forces (ISF) is illegal as it was based on the request of a sovereign government.

The statement follows concerns raised by Fretilin about the legality of ISF presence.

Mr Gusmão added that the document authorizing the presence of the ISF was signed by the former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, the President of the National Parliament Francisco Guterres Lu-Olo and himself as the former president of the republic. (DN, TP and TVTL).

International Media Reports

Visiting peacekeepers for pictorial record By Kiri Gillespie Friday, 26 October, 2007

WAR-torn East Timor does not generally feature high as a favourite holiday destination but for Brett Mead, it’s at the top of his list.

The Gisborne Herald advertising representative has exchanged his desk for his camera and flown to East Timor to explore an interest in war-conflict photography.

Mr Mead made friends with contacts at the New Zealand Army and gained clearance to visit troops still working over there.

“I have always wanted to do war conflict. It has always interested me,” he said.

A jack of at least two trades, Mr Mead also works as a photographer and is excited about the opportunity.

“It is not everyday, run-of-the-mill photography. You get to see some pretty amazing countries at a time when it is changing the history, and at a time when people would not usually want to go there.”

While Mr Mead looks forward to travelling around the small island with just a motorbike and camera, the New Zealand Army will transport him to places in the fragile nation that are deemed “too dodgy” to go it alone. This includes travel by helicopter.

Mr Mead said gangs and riots were still considered a significant problem to the overall security of the country. There were still tourist warnings in place due to ‘‘violent civil unrest’’.

East Timor’s conflict became known to many when the nation reached independence in 2002. The road getting there has been long and traumatic.

It was reported that at least 100,000 Timorese died as a result of Indonesia’s 25-year long occupation, which ended in 1999 after a referendum of public vote.

This angered Indonesia loyalists, including local military assisted militia, who went on the rampage, murdering hundreds and reducing towns to ruins.

The New Zealand Army became part of an international peacekeeping force that has worked towards bringing East Timor back to its feet.

“My focus over there is photographing part of what the army is doing now the main conflict is finished.

“With wars, most media will leave as soon as the fighting has stopped, but there has been really no change ­ even though things have slowed down a bit,” said Mr Mead.

It will be a four-week break from work at the paper but “it is still work, but this is what I would probably be doing if I was on holiday anyway . . . it’s what I want to be doing in the long-run, so it’s all good”.

As a gesture of appreciation to the New Zealand Army, Mr Mead will give them the photos he takes on the trip.

“They have been so overwhelmingly helpful.”

After his time in East Timor, Mr Mead will fly into Auckland with a photography task of an entirely different nature. He has gained accreditation to photograph images at the Netball World Championships at Waitakere Stadium during November 10-17. His images will be used by The Gisborne Herald.

“It is going to be pretty full-on,” he said

Air force helicopter crews off to Timor

Friday October 26, 01:07 PM NZPA

Thirty-two air force pilots, technicians, engineers and crew left New Zealand today for three months with the New Zealand Defence Force helicopter detachment in East Timor.

They will crew and maintain two Iroquois helicopters in the country.

They will work alongside the Australian Defence Force and the 150 NZDF infantry and military observers.

NATIONAL NEWS SOURCES: Timor Post (TP) Radio Timor-Leste (RTL) Suara Timor Lorosae (STL) Diario Tempo (DT) Diario Nacional (DN) Semanario Televisaun Timor-Leste (TVTL)

UNMIT MEDIA MONITORING www.unmit.org