East Timor requests foreign troops after clashes

East Timor, world's newest nation, asked for up to 1,000 foreign troops to help quell violence by rebel soldiers.

Some 600 of East Timor's 1,400 soldiers were fired in March after complaints about regional discrimination in promotion. The sacked troops rioted in April with five killed in the incident and 21,000 fleeing their homes to escape the violence.


Loyal East Timor soldiers in firefight with rebel soldiers in Dili earlier this week. AFP photo from Yahoo News.

The rebel soldiers are reportedly holed in the town of Aileu near Dili and have conducted several attacks on government troops.

Dili has requested soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, and police from Malaysia and Portugal to help deal with the unrest.




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Norway asks Tamil Tigers for monitors' safety

Norwegian peace negotiators discussed the safety of international peace monitors Tuesday with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Safety of the monitors became a pressing issue after a major naval battle in Sri Lanka on May 11. During the battle, a troop carrier carrying a peace monitor was attacked.

Norway also expressed its concern over the Tigers refusal to attend peace talks last April in Geneva.

The LTTE said it did not attend because the government had failed to provide air transport for its eastern commanders, and has not fulfilled its promise to disarm paramilitary groups.

Fighting has escalated in Sri Lanka in recent months, but both sides say they are committed to re-establishing peace.



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Indonesia: Bird flu may have transmitted human-to-human

Indonesian officials said they are investigating what may be the first case of human-to-human transmision of avian flu.

"We cannot confirm that has occurred but we cannot rule it out," I Nyoman Kandun of the health ministry said Monday.


State hosptial staff examine a man infected with avian flu in Medan, Sumatra. AFP file photo from Yahoo News.

Kandun said that there was no indication the virus had mutated so the disease is probably not anymore contagious among humans than before.

Indonesia has more bird flu deaths than any other country this year and trails only Vietnam in total fatalities.