East
of Eden
In September 2007, Guy Henshilwood went to East Timor, or Timor
Leste, on assignment with Al Jazeera.
Conflicts and bureaucracy aside, he
found that the island was very beautiful and serene.
East Timor was colonised by the Portuguese
in 1702. It declared independence in 1975 but was invaded
by Indonesia the same year. East Timor became independent
again in May 2002 after a long conflict with Indonesia.
The country's GDP per capita is about
US$354. Its main exports are coffee, oil and natural gas.
Naturally, any developed country with a dependency on fossil
fuel would be interested in the country, if not its people.
Guy Henshilwood is a Planning
Editor at Al Jazeera Kuala Lumpur
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