Wednesday, 30 January 2008

UNMIT – MEDIA MONITORING

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National Media Reports

TVTL news coverage

CNRT: request for Xanana to respond to allegations: The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) MP Eduardo "Dusae" Barreto presented a political statement to parliament over a video recording allegation by Alfredo Reinado Alves against PM Xanana Gusmao.

Dusae said PM Gusmao should respond to the allegations in parliament, as the video recording has been widely distributed within the community.

Gusmao should explain whether he is responsible for the country's crisis as he is accused of being in the video.

Parliamentary Deputy President Vicente Guterres said that in a democratic nation everyone has the right to express their claims and that there are many mechanisms PM Gusmao can use to respond to the allegations, including directly addressing the NP.

RTL news coverage

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NP requests PM and Alfredo to present themselves: The National Council of Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) has asked PM Xanana Gusmão to present to the National Parliament his response to the allegations made by Alfredo.

CNRT stated in a political statement that along with the PM, the former Minister of Defence Roque Rodrigues, the Commander of Defence Forces of Timor-Leste (F-FDTL) and other F-FDTL commanders which have relations with Alfredo and the petitioners, should present themselves to the NP.

Furthermore, CNRT has also asked for the presence of Alfredo Reinado and the petitioners' spokesperson, Gastão Salsinha. (TP, STL, DN and TVTL)

New commander for ISF: Brigadier General Jams Baker has replaced Brigadier General John Hutchison as the Commander of the International Security Forces (ISF) on Tuesday (29/1).

Brigadier Baker said that ISF will continue to collaborate with the government of Timor-Leste in security areas and will respect any decision made by the government on security issues.

Furthermore, Brigadier Hutchison said that to date, the Timorese people have collaborated well with the ISF to ensure the stabilization of the country.

"F-FDTL and PNTL are working well, even though there are still problems with professionalism." said Brigadier Hutchison. (TP, STL and DN)

UNDP supports TLPC with US800.000: The Timor-Leste Press Club (TLPC) has held the first meeting with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Representative Miguel Fontez, to discuss collaboration between the two groups on newspaper distributions throughout the country.

According to the plan, UNDP will purchase newspapers from each printed media through TLPC to the amount of US$800,000 over a two-year period.

UNDP has asked TLPC to translate the Media Law and present it to all journalists in the country.

This meeting is a positive sign that UNDP and TLPC will sign an Accord of Cooperation in March 2008 on this collaboration.

The Vice President of TLPC Jose Belo said that with Government and UNDP support, TLPC will organize newspaper distributions to communities across the nation. (TP)

China to build F-FDTL Headquarters: The Government of China will build one hundred houses for F-FDTL after completing the Office of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential Palace in Timor-Leste.

An Accord between the Government of Timor-Leste and the Government of the People's Republic of China was signed on Tuesday (29/1).

"The Accord signed with China will support building of the F-FDTL Headquarter in Metinaro along with more than a hundred houses for veterans,â€� said Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.

Not including the construction of the F-FDTL Headquarters, Chinese contributions to Timor-Leste to date total more than USD42 million. (DN)

Timor Telecom fails to cover the nation: The NP Member from CNRT, Cecilio Caminha, said that Timor Telecom has not succeeded in Timor-Leste as its networks do not yet cover the whole nation.

"This company has had a contact with the Government of Timor-Leste for five years. Why is it then that the Timor-Telecom network does not yet cover some districts?" said Mr. Caminha on Tuesday (29/1) in the NP, Dili.

Mr. Caminha also said that he is encouraging the Government to provide opportunities for other telecommunication companies to compete for national coverage.

"If there are no other telecommunication companies, Timor Telecom will not perform as well." he added. (DN)

CPD-RDTL: asking Fretilin not to condemn Xanana: The Popular Council of Defence of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (CPD-RDTL) is asking the leaders of Fretilin and Alfredo Reinado not to condemn Prime Minister Xanana as the author of the 2006 crisis.

CPD-RDTL considers the attitudes of Fretilin leaders immoral in criticizing Xanana publicly. (STL)

IDPs Jardin: we want to return home: The coordinator of IDPs in Jardin Colmera IPD camp, Leopoldo Pinto, said that the majority of IDPs in the camp want to return home as they have suffered enough.

Mr. Pinto said that the only problem still faced by the IDPs was that of Alfredo Reinado and the petitioners.

"As soon as their problems are solved, I believe that the problems of IDPs can also be easily resolved," said Mr. Pinto on Tuesday (29/1) after meeting Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão with other IDPs in the Ministry of Solidarity in Dili. (STL)

Hermenegildo 'Kupa': need to establish military academy: The President of Millenium Democratic Party (PMD) and the Spokesperson of the Progressive Democratic League (LDP), Hermenegildo 'Kupa' has said that in creating a professional institution in F-FDTL, the government should establish a military academy.

"In any nation, a military academy is very important to produce professional soldiers for the defence of the country. So, a military academy is needed in this country,� said Mr. ‘Kupa' on Monday (28/1) in Dili. (STL)

International Media Reports

NATIONAL NEWS SOURCES: Televizaun Timor-Leste (TVTL) Radio Timor-Leste (RTL) Timor Post (TP) Suara Timor Lorosae (STL) Diario Tempo (DT) Diario Nacional (DN) Semanário Nacional (SN) Tempo Semanal (TS)

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