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Friday, 17 May, 2002, 09:03 GMT 10:03 UK
Timeline: East Timor 1975 to 2002
As East Timor moves
towards independence, BBC News Online charts some of the key events
going back to Indonesia's invasion in 1975.
2002: 20 May: East Timor becomes fully independent. 14 April: First ever presidential elections. Former rebel leader Xanana Gusmao wins by a landslide. Jan: Indonesia inaugurates human rights court which is expected to test government's willingness to hold the military accountable for atrocities in East Timor after the territory's independence vote in 1999.
2001 Aug: East Timor elects 88-member Constituent Assembly 2000 Sep: United Nations evacuates staff from West Timor following murder of three UN refugee agency workers by pro-Indonesian militia gangs. An Indonesian court subsequently jails six men for up to 20 months for the killings, earning international outrage for being too lenient. 1999 26 Oct: The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) officially takes charge. 20 Sep: United Nations peacekeeping troops arrive. 7 Sep: Independence leader Xanana Gusmao is freed from house arrest 4 Sep: Election result shows 78.5% of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. 31 Aug: Militia violence and intimidation following independence vote. Over the next few days countless East Timorese and five UN staff are killed. The Indonesian army is accused of joining in the violence, and the UN is forced to pull out. More than 200,000 East Timorese flee to West Timor. 30 Aug: Nearly 99% turn out for East Timor independence vote. 23 Jun: Indonesia announces plan to give East Timor extensive autonomy. 17 Apr: Series of militia attacks in Dili; 21 people killed. 5 Apr: Pro-Indonesia militiamen hack to death at least 25 refugees in a churchyard in Liquisa. 7 Feb: Xanana Gusmao moved from prison to house arrest. 1991-98 21 May 1998: Indonesian President Suharto resigns amid popular protest. 1996: Nobel peace prize awarded jointly to Bishop Carlos Belo and exiled activist Jose Ramos Horta. Nov 1992: Rebel leader Xanana Gusmao arrested in Dili. Later sentenced to life in prison. 12 Nov 1991: Indonesian armed forces fire on unarmed pro-democracy supporters in Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, killing more than 100 people. 1975-79 1979: Xanana Gusmao takes up leadership of the East Timorese rebel forces. He had fled East Timor before the Indonesian invasion. 1976: Indonesia annexes East Timor. About 200,000 are killed in violence and the famine that follow. 1975: After more than 450 years as East Timor's colonial power and following a revolution at home, Portugal withdraws from East Timor. Soon afterwards Indonesia invades.
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