Last weekend a young Palestinian mother named Maha Mohammed(ph) stood on the side of the desertedhighway, cradling a baby and holding her young son's hand, as she tried for an hour to flag down a taxi to take her on what would normally be a 10-minute drive to the next town.
Heading east from Dili to the village of Becora, the highway is deserted except our little convoy--a military truck bearing two tons of rice, and two cars carrying military officers and journalists.