East Timor
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Official name: Timor Lorosae or Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, |
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LIFE & LIBERTY |
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Location
- East Timor is a country in South-east Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The island of Timor is part of the Malay archipelago and the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. To the north of the mountainous island are the Ombai Strait and Wetar Strait, to the south the Timor Sea separates the island from Australia, while to the west lies the Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara.
[edit] Climate
[edit] Natural Resources
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Peoples
- There are three main ethnic groups with a number of sub-groups and 20 different languages in East Timor. There is need for unity and patience as their young country develops.
[edit] Provinces
- Dili
[edit] Life
[edit] Economy
[edit] Government
- Timor Lorosae’s birth as a nation, independent of Indonesia in 1999, was traumatic. The vindictive destruction of life and property and the forcible abduction of many Timorese by the departing Indonesian military and their Timorese allies have left a legacy of hatred and trauma that will take decades to heal. Pray that Christians might contribute effectively to the spiritual, moral and economic recovery and health of the Timorese people. Militia supported by the Indonesian army looted and destroyed the new country before the UN stepped in. Since East Timor gained independence from Indonesia in 1999 it has continued to experience regular uprisings and troubles. An independent report lists 107 organised gangs operating throughout East Timor, all pursuing their agendas of revenge and retribution.
- 11 February 2008 7.00 o'clock local time: East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta wounded in home attack
- Rebel soldiers attacked the house of East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta early Monday, wounding the Nobel Prize-winning leader in the stomach in a clash that also killed the country's top wanted fugitive, an army spokesman said. Ramos-Horta was in "stable condition" following the shooting and was flown to neighboring Australia for further treatment, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told reporters in the capital Dili. Notorious rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, however, was killed in the attack, as was one of Ramos-Horta's guards. East Timor television reported that the home of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao also came under fire, but that no one was hurt. The unsourced report raised the possibility that the rebels soldiers mayhave been staging a coup attempt.
- Two cars carrying rebels soldiers passed Ramos-Horta's house on the outskirts of the capital, Dili, at around 7 a.m. local time and began shooting. The guards returned fire. Ramos-Horta was being operated on at an Australian army hospital in the capital Dili with a stomach wound, after that flown to Darwin for more treatment.
- Alfredo Reinado was due to go on trial in absentia for his alleged role in several deadly shootings between police and military units during the violence in 2006. He had evaded captured since then and refused repeated pleas by the government to surrender.
- Deposed Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has maintained Ramos-Horta's government was illegitimate. His political party immediately condemned Monday's attack in a statement released to the media.
- President Jose Ramos Horta was critically injured in an assassination attempt on February 11, 2008 in a failed coup apparently perpetrated by Alfredo Reinado, a renegade soldier who died in the attack. Prime Minister Gusmão also faced gunfire separately but escaped unharmed. The Australian government immediately sent reinforcements to East Timor to keep order. Jose Ramos Horta was admitted to a hospital in Darwin/Australia in an induced coma and in critical condition. "During his transfer from Dili to Darwin he remained stabilized but in critical condition," Badham said. Ramos Horta had received multiple blood transfusions, Badham said. He was delivered to the Royal Darwin Hospital, where staff were doing a full assessment of his condition.
- Jose Ramos Horta was released from Royal Adelaide Hospital on March 19, 2008, although he said that he would stay in Australia for physical therapy for "a few more weeks". He also said on this occasion that he had remained conscious following the shooting and "remembered every detail", describing how he was taken for treatment.
[edit] Religion
- The constitution provides for freedom of religion. 98% of the population is Catholic, but they trust more in the power of the ancestor spirits than in God; and 1% Protestant. The Assemblies of God is the largest and most active of the Protestant denominations. According to Protestant leaders, individuals converting from Catholicism to Protestantism were subject to harassment by family members and neighbours, and in some cases clergy and missionaries were threatened or assaulted. In several instances village leaders refused to allow missionaries to work in their villages, and in at least one case a Protestant group was unable to build a chapel because of opposition from neighbours and local officials.
[edit] Islam
- 1% are Muslim.
[edit] Buddhism
[edit] Christianity
[edit] History
[edit] Churches
- Catholic church grew fast as a visible symbol of national resistance during the occupation of Indonesia, but the deep occultism of the ethnic religions remains strong. May evangelical churches be planted in every people and area of the country.
[edit] Church and State Relations
[edit] Mission
[edit] Broadcasting
[edit] Councils and Networks
[edit] Future Trends
[edit] For More Reading
