• Militias training to strike Australian soldiers
• Militiaman shot dead in East Timor
• Falintil fighters to keep their arms
• US-Trained Indonesians infiltrate Timor
• Group has reputation for brutality
• Refugees pressed to say if they want to go
• Disarming Falintil
• Ruined town yields tales of 200 killings
• UN proposes transitional authority
• Alatas `told Downer groups were armed'
• Refugee tells of killings in West Timor
• 'Peacekeepers too cautious, aid too slow'
• Interfet wants to disarm Falintil

• PDI-P says no plans to mobilize masses
• Golkar co-operation key to presidency
• Wahid strong contender for president
• Megawati's presidential bid losing steam
• PDI-P's abysmal lobbying skills
• Bets off for presidential election
• Assembly picks reformist speaker

• Ten die in clashes in Maluku
• Indonesia records 7th month of deflation

• Students demand self-determination
• Violence, tension hurt economy in Aceh

• Police clash with striking workers

• Australian soldier's effigy burnt
• UK keeps lid on role in ousting Sukarno
• Keating is Suharto accomplice: Horta
• Sell-off to pay for Timor

• TNI urges endorsement of Timor vote
• Unpopular military plays games with blame
• Subdued birthday for tainted military
• US still training Kopassus killers

Students rally in Jakarta for reform

Jakarta -- Some 150 Indonesian students took to the streets of Jakarta Monday, calling on the newly-elected national assembly, now in its first session, to implement reforms.

The protesters, from the Network of Indonesian Students, gathered at a busy roundabout in Central Jakarta in front of a posh hotel were most members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) are staying.

They chanted anti-military slogans and brandished signs demanding that former president Suharto be brought to justice. "The voice of the people is the voice of God, going against the will of the people is going against the will of God," read a large banner.

The students' demands for reform have centered around the scrapping of the much-criticized military role in politics and the trial of Suharto, who is accused of having amassed a fortune during his 32 years of authoritarian rule. "We call on Dr. Amien Rais to implement sweeping reform. Our hope is that he will remain consistent in pushing for reform," Muhammad Irfan, student at a computer institute in Jakarta, told AFP.

Rais, a Muslim intellectual who was in the frontlines of a reform movement that helped topple Suharto last year, was elected chairman of the MPR in a tight vote against another Muslim leader, Matori Abdul Jalil. The assembly is scheduled to elect a new president on October 20.

Student protests mark Armed Forces Day

Jakarta -- Thousands of Indonesian students in the capital and other cities in Java and Sumatra Tuesday marked the 54th Indonesian Armed Forces Day with mass protests demanding the military return to barracks, witnesses and reports said.

In Jakarta, at least 400 students of the City Forum marched down a main avenue towards the parliament where the national assembly was convening, to demand the military get out of politics.

The protesters, marching behind a huge banner that included a demand to "reject the socio-political role of ABRI (the Indonesian armed forces)," were stopped by a strong cordon of police and soldiers at an underpass some 200 meters from the gate to the parliament.

Another 150 students massed at a busy roundabout in front of a posh hotel where most newly-elected members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) are staying. "Reject the military in government," read one banner.

In the university town of Bandung, in West Java, thousands of students paraded an effigy of Indonesian Armed Forces Chief General Wiranto at the campus of the state Bandung Institute of Technology before marching off into downtown Bandung with a brief stop at the provincial parliament.

The students, from at least three main universities and several student groups, who also demanded the scrapping of the military's role in politics, burned the effigy as they arrived in city square, the Detik.com online news service said.

Some 2,000 students rallied peacefully in the streets of the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, chanting slogans and brandishing anti-military posters.

The protestors stopped at the provicial parliament and held a free speech forum there for almost three hours before heading to the local military headquarters some five kilometres away.

In Semarang, some 300 students from the Indonesian Students Network held a demonstration at the Central Java military headquarters to demand the scrapping of the military's role in politics and the disbanding of military command posts from the village up to the provincial level.

In nearby Salatiga, some 100 students from three local universities held a similar protest at the local military headquarters.

Some 150 students from several universities attempted to approach the East Java military headquarters in Surabaya but were prevented by a thick cordon of mass control troops. There was not incident and the students dispersed after holding a free speech forum there for about 40 minutes.

Wiranto, Habibie sing as students protest

Vaudine England and Agencies, Jakarta -- Soldiers and riot police lounged in makeshift camps under flyovers and in central parks across Jakarta as their leaders held festivities to mark Army Day at the palm tree-lined grounds of Cilangkap military headquarters.

The ceremonies ended with an exchange of singing skills, in which President Bacharuddin Habibie sang Strangers in the Night, followed by a heart-rending version of When I Fall in Love by armed forces chief General Wiranto.

Meanwhile, an Indonesian student was stabbed to death during a student protest in Palembang, south Sumatra, as thousands of students in Jakarta and cities in Java and Sumatra marked the day with mass protests demanding the military return to barracks, witnesses and reports said.

In Jakarta, at least 400 students of the City Forum marched down a main avenue towards parliament -- where the National Assembly was convening -- to demand the military get out of politics. The protesters were stopped by a strong cordon of police and soldiers at an underpass 200 metres from the gate to parliament.

The President told the military to avoid security excesses, as international pressure mounts over the role it played in the East Timor bloodbath.

"An excessive security approach is no longer relevant. However, that does not mean stability and security is not important and should be ignored," Mr Habibie told the country's military as it celebrated its 54th anniversary.

Mr Habibie said the military could prove itself "through its reforms in a bid to become a defence and security force that is professional, effective, efficient and modern".

He emphasised the military's newfound ability to be neutral, as shown in the June general elections, saying this "has shown the armed forces' commitment to develop democracy, reforms and human rights".

Mr Habibie's own vulnerability in the country's forthcoming presidential poll requires him to keep the armed forces on his side, but public antipathy towards the military has rarely been higher.

Even the general who promoted the right of the military to engage in politics, retired General Nasution, now questions the military's right to its 38 seats in parliament.

The military's game is not yet over but "it can change every day now", said military analyst Arbi Sanit. "They are still important in local politics, but as Reformasi [Reform] continues, they have less and less power," he said.

Military officers probed Lampung shooting

Bandar Lampung -- Lampung Military Police yesterday began investigating eight military officers allegedly involved in the shooting that took place during a students protest in front of the Bandar Lampung University (UBL) campus on Tuesday. One student was killed during the demonstration.

Military police have confiscated several guns from the Kedaton military command, located near the UBL campus, which were allegedly used to shoot protesters during the demonstration protesting the State Security Law (PKB).

Lampung Military Police Commander Lieutenant Colonel Bagus Heroe Sucahyo said military police were still investigating the clash between protesters and security officers. Dozens of protesters were also injured during the clash.

"In addition to investigating eight military officers, we are also examining the firearms used," he told journalists in Bandar Lampung yesterday. He acknowledged that military police could not determine the time of the shooting, but undertook to probe the case seriously.

Sucahyo added that the investigation was now focused on security officers from Kedaton military command. "We respect the principle of the presumption of innocence, but our findings in the location indicate we should concentrate our attention on military personnel," he said.

Meanwhile, Military Commander of the Garuda Hitam military region, Colonel Mudjiono, accused the Democratic People's Party (PRD) of using the student protest for its own political advantage. However the accusation was later denied by PRD activist, Andi Arif.

"We admit that we gathered with students during the protest rejecting PKB bill, but there were also other parties there too. We therefore absolutely deny that the PRD was there just to use the students," he said.

Three days after the bloody incident, two students remain in a coma at Bandar Lampung's Advent hospital. They are Saidatul Fitri from Lampung University and another unidentified student from Bandar Lampung University.

Yusuf Rizal (23), a student at Unila, who was killed in the incident was buried on Wednesday in Kedamaian public cemetery, East Tanjung Karang.

Student dies from protest injuries

Jakarta -- A student died in hospital in the Indonesian city of Bandarlampoung Sunday, a second victim of clashes between protestors and security personnel, a university employee said.

"Saidatul Fitria died at the hospital at 4.30am and she was buried at her village in Gadingrejo," an employee of Lampung University said by telephone from Bandarlampung, capital of the province of Lampung on the island of Sumatra.

Fitria's skull was fractured in a clash on September 29 as students took to the streets to protest the passage through parliament of a bill which they said would give the military sweeping powers. Another Lampung Universtity student, Muhamad Rizal Yusuf, was shot dead by soldiers on the day of the protest.

The university employee, who identified himself only as Bambang, said Fitria, a student of the faculty of teachers' training and education, had died at Abdul Muluk state hospital.

Seven people, including another student, died in Jakarta in parallel clashes with security troops in running protests against the security bill last week.
 

East Timor

Militias training to strike Australian soldiers

Singapore -- Pro-Indonesian militias are undergoing training in guerilla warfare with the aim of killing Australian soldiers spearheading a multinational force in East Timor, Singapore's Sunday Times said.

The three-day visit by the Sunday Times to militia training camps near border areas between East and West Timor was the first by foreign or local media, said the report datelined from Atambua in West Timor. Captain Domingos Pereira, a company commander of the notorious Aitarak militia told the paper they hoped to step up cross-border incursions and sporadic attacks against Australian soldiers after a month or two.

"We don't have a chance in a conventional war," Pereira told the paper at the camp near a Catholic cemetery and hidden by trees, where 730 militia men were undergoing physical fitness training.

"But we can make it very painful for them in a guerilla war. The Australians must die for what they have done to my men and their families.

"The Australians are siding openly with our enemies, the Falintil, and are killing our people in East Timor," he said, referring to the pro-independence guerillas.

The Aitarak militias in training are men in their 20s from nearby refugee camps, and carry arms from World War II and expect to get more M-16 rifles used by the Indonesian Special Forces, the report said.

"We don't need sophisticated equipment to rip apart a white man's head. we can do it with our bare hands," said one recruit named Roberto Gama.

Militiaman shot dead in East Timor

Dili -- An Interfet foot patrol has shot dead a militia fighter near the East Timor border with Indonesian West Timor, an Australian army spokesman said Sunday.

Colonel Mark Kelly said a patrol of about five men from the multinational forces opened fire on 12 to 15 militiamen at about 2.30pm Saturday after they were attacked two kilometers inside the border at a place called Alto Lebos, to the north of the port of Suai.

Kelly said the militiamen clearly posed a threat to the Interfet patrol. "Certainly by the way they were acting on the ground, they were in an aggressive posture.

They were clearly employing what appeared to be a sweep and clearance by fire technique. They came across the Interfet patrol's location," before the Interfet force opened fire, he said.

"It was at the last safe moment with the fire coming towards them, [at] their observation post ... they [the patrol] engaged by fire."

After the clash the militiamen withdrew towards the border region, but the dead man's body had been recovered, he said.

The dead man was wearing typical militia equipment, Kelly said, adding there was no indication he had anything to do with the Indonesian army. Troops from the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) suffered no casualties in the encounter, he said.

Falintil fighters to keep their arms

Dili -- Falintil resistance fighters will be allowed to retain their weapons in their camps pending further disarmament negotiations, despite a UN mandate to disarm all groups, an Interfet spokesman said Tuesday.

"They are going to remain in their cantonments with their weapons out of our area of presence," Colonel Mark Kelly, spokesman for the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) said. "We have accepted that they can retain their weapons within their cantonments at present," he said.

The statement followed an incident on Sunday when British Gurkhas escorting an aid convoy to the eastern city of Baucau allowed a small group of Falintil fighters to keep their assault rifles after meeting them.

The multinational force for East Timor is mandated to disarm all parties and groups, including pro-Jakarta militias blamed for massive destruction, looting and killing after the territory's August 30 independence vote.

Kelly said that Interfet officers had discussed the incident in Baucau with Falintil leaders. "Matan Ruak agreed that it was a mistake. He has instructed Falintil groups not to bear arms in the presence of Interfet soldiers," he said. Matan Ruak is the top field commander of the Falintil, the armed wing of the National Resistance Council for East Timor.

Kelly said that Interfet was continuing negotiations with Falintil with a goal of reaching full disarmament.

The multinational force for East Timor has been criticized by some quarters for seeking to disarm Falintil fighters in areas which they have yet to fully secure, and in which militias may still be operating. Kelly said he would ask the senior officers of the Indonesian army Tuesday to set up a meeting between Interfet and the leaders of the miltias for negotiations on disarmament.

He gave no further details, but most of the militia leaders are now in adjacent Indonesian-ruled West Timor.

US-Trained Indonesians infiltrate Timor

Dili -- Indonesian commandos are conducting covert operations inside East Timor aimed at sabotaging the international peacekeeping effort, foreign military officials say.

The commandos, who received extensive training from the US military despite a 1992 congressional ban, are actively reconnoitering positions held by the UN-mandated force along the border with Indonesian-held West Timor, Australian army Capt. Grant King said.

Several groups of soldiers, believed to be part of Indonesia's elite Kopassus special forces brigade, were observed by peacekeepers conducting nighttime patrols around the peacekeepers' positions near the town of Balibo this week.

"They were definitely soldiers, not militia," King said. The Australians held their fire and the patrols eventually slipped back across the border to West Timor, he said. Australian soldiers on the spot confirmed that the patrols appeared to have been mounted by Kopassus troops.

Indonesian soldiers are formally allowed to remain in East Timor until the national parliament ratifies the province's secession later this month.

But the two remaining infantry battalions are restricted to the capital Dili, where they are barricaded inside government buildings. Their commander last week gave a "100 percent guarantee" that there were no Kopassus left in the province.

However, Wednesday's botched militia ambush of a convoy of peacekeepers in the southwest of East Timor bore the "unmistakable imprint" of a special forces operation, said a foreign officer who spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday. Two militiamen were killed and two Australian peacekeepers were slightly wounded.

Assault rifles retrieved from the dead militiamen were both Indonesian army weapons: the Russian-built SKS, which has been phased out of service, and the Belgian FNC, which is the standard infantry weapon today. They are not available to civilians and can be obtained only from the army.

Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sudrajat denied any Kopassus involvement, claiming the assailants only were wearing the elite force's uniforms.

Kopassus -- along with the army's secretive intelligence bureau -- organized, trained and armed the militia gangs last year to act as a counterweight to the pro-independence Fretilin rebels who have fought Indonesian rule since the occupation of East Timor in 1975.

Leaked Indonesian army records showed a massive special forces buildup in East Timor last year, when the first militia gangs were set up.

Kopassus has long been portrayed as a rogue element within Indonesia's military. It's been accused of engineering civil unrest and violence as the world's fourth-most populous nation grapples with massive political, social and economic crises.

Human rights groups claim Kopassus troops conducted a reign of terror in East Timor during 24 years of Indonesian rule.

Over the years, the unit participated in numerous joint exercises with the US military, despite a 1992 ban on the training of Indonesia's armed forces imposed in reaction to its poor human rights record.

Clinton administration officials maintained the program was not covered by a law that bars Indonesian troops from taking part in a US training program for foreign soldiers known as IMET. State and Defense Department officials claimed the prohibition did not affect the joint combined exercises carried out by the US Pacific Command.

Kopassus soldiers and officers received instruction from US special operations advisers in skills like psychological warfare and reconnaissance missions, media reports said.

Last month, the administration suspended further military cooperation and arms sales to Indonesia, after its armed forces allegedly instigated the campaign of violence that followed a vote for independence on August 30.

Kopassus is organized into two special forces groups, each consisting of two battalions. Although military analysts say its capabilities are limited -- particularly when facing a modern, Western force such as the Australian army -- the 4,000-strong brigade is the best that Indonesian has.

Indonesian generals have made extensive use of their crack unit in recent years, particularly in a campaign to stamp out a separatist rebel movement in Aceh, the country's westernmost province. But its troops are said to have performed poorly against the rebels and were implicated in several massacres of unarmed civilians.

Human rights organizations also have blamed them for kidnapping dozens of pro-democracy activists during last year's protests that led to the ouster of Indonesia's longtime dictator Suharto.

His son-in-law, Lt. Gen. Probowo Subianto, was a former Kopassus commander. He was dumped as the unit's chief and now lives in self-imposed exile in Jordan.

Group has reputation for brutality

Agence France Presse, Cassa -- The armed men involved in a fatal clash with international peacekeepers in East Timor were from a feared militia that has committed a series of atrocities, witnesses said yesterday.

Residents of Cassa, a mountain village, said the attack on Wednesday was carried out by members of the Mahidi (Live or Die for Integration) militia, whose leader Cancio Carvalho is based in the village.

Villagers said the militia had tied one man to a steel-framed chair with wire and burned him alive. The chair, wire and the charred remains of the man were visible yesterday outside Carvalho's headquarters.

"They tied him to that and set him alight after stabbing him in front of the whole town on the soccer field," said Armandio de Jesus, a former UN employee.

The Mahidi, which has threatened to wage guerilla war to prevent East Timor severing its ties to Indonesia, also raided the nearby village of Hatohudo on Sunday, beheading one woman and killing five others, residents said.

"There was a lot of shooting. They came in trucks. We all ran," said Aniceto Xavier, 31. "The militia cut the head off the lady and put her head on an oil drum in the middle of the road."

Mr Xavier said the militia had told the people they should go to Atambua, across the border in West Timor, or they would be killed.

Mahidi has virtually destroyed Cassa -- about 70km from the border with West Timor -- forcibly removing many residents.

Two militiamen were killed on Wednesday when they ambushed an Australian patrol near Suai. Two Australian soldiers were injured.

Residents of Cassa said about 500 people had been loaded on to a convoy of militia trucks and stolen United Nations vehicles and driven across the border. Only about 100 people remained in the town, many of them women and children.

Refugees pressed to say if they want to go

Tom Fawthrop and Marianne Kearney, Kupang -- More than 230,000 East Timorese refugees in West Timor camps are being pressed to declare whether they want to return home or stay in Indonesia.

Jakarta's Ministry of Transmigration has been preparing a resettlement plan to absorb more than 250,000 East Timorese, with promises of two hectares of land and a house.

International aid agencies in Kupang, West Timor's capital, are concerned that with intimidation, disappearances and political killings routine in the camps, now is not the time to ask the refugees to make such crucial choices.

An officer with the newly established Kupang office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said: "We want [the refugees] to be well informed, to know what to expect if they return home, to know what kind of guarantees for their safe return and transportation can be provided. That is clearly not the case at the moment."

Mr Kenneth McClean, the director of Catholic Relief Services in Kupang, was concerned that "with armed militias still in camps, refugees would be afraid of opting to return home, fearing that they would expose themselves as independence supporters".

The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs has distributed about 50,000 registration cards, one for each household in the camps. The results for Kupang districts were already being tabulated on Wednesday.

The head of each refugee family is required to nominate its preference: to return to East Timor; to stay in West Timor or neighbouring regions; or to move elsewhere in Indonesia.

On Saturday refugees held in a sports stadium in Kupang were among the first to be registered in a process administered by Indonesian soldiers, who gave red cards to those who wished to return, and blue cards to those who chose to stay, according to an Indonesian non-government organisation.

Mr John Campbell, a lecturer from the Protestant University of Kupang, saw this as a "deeply flawed process which could be used by pro-integration groups, if the numbers of refugees opting to stay exceed those who want to return. Whatever this survey represents, this is in no way a referendum on the referendum."

One priest in Atambua said: "The only way to make sure you really know who wants to return is to have UNHCR do private interviews with all the refugees."

Many aid agencies wonder why the authorities are in such a rush. They have begun a crash building program to create new settlements, co-ordinated between four ministries and with land already allocated.

The Indonesian authorities have authorised the first UN flight taking refugees from Kupang back to East Timor, and about 180 people are expected to travel today.

Church sources believe the military has supplied the militia with a hit list of about 300 independence supporters, many of whom are expected to be on that first flight today.

Disarming Falintil

The multinational force in East Timor (Interfet) was wise to avoid a firefight earlier this week with members of the resistance force, Falintil, by backing away from demands that the guerillas surrender their weapons. This is a directive that must be backed by the resistance leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, if loss of life and suspicion of Interfet among East Timorese is to be avoided. But Interfet is right to insist that Falintil must be disarmed. Mr Gusmao argues that the guerillas were never involved in acts of terrorism and should be treated as "an army of liberation and not as a band of bandits". He has his constituency to think of -- fighters who against all odds have stayed loyal to the cause of East Timor's independence, in some cases for 24 years, and ordinary East Timorese who fear for their lives if left to the mercy of pro-Indonesian militias. But the reality is that after an extremely reluctant start, the international community has accepted responsibility for the protection of his people. In the overall interests of peace and stability, Interfet must have a monopoly of force for the foreseeable future.

It shouldn't be hard to thrash out a compromise on this issue with Mr Gusmao. Falintil rightly points that about 1,500 armed Indonesian troops remain in East Timor. These are the remnants of an army of occupation and oppression. While they are there, Interfet doesn't have a monopoly of force and the resistance has a strong case - symbolically, emotionally and politically -- for remaining armed as well. But the disarmament of Falintil can be tied to the Indonesian withdrawal. When the last Indonesian soldier has left East Timor, the rationale for the guerillas remaining a fighting force will be gone as well. It is then that Falintil should hand over its weapons.

This can be done in a way that preserves the dignity and honour of the guerillas. The militias have been involved in cowardly attacks on unarmed civilians. It is right that they should be treated as thugs and criminals, and unceremoniously stripped of their weapons. Falintil, by contrast, will be voluntarily disarming and there is nothing to stop this being an occasion for celebration and conducted in a fashion conducive to that outcome.

Moreover, disarming doesn't mean disbanding, and the distinction is an important one that should be preserved. Falintil is more than likely to form the core of an indigenous police force when circumstances in East Timor permit. It is sensible to keep its units intact, even perhaps to think about training them into the role of civilian law enforcers. And just because Falintil is disarmed doesn't mean it has no role to play in the interim. Falintil has expertise and credibility among the East Timorese which Interfet may find useful even if, in the interests of neutrality, it should avoid a formal association.

Much has been asked of the East Timorese in the struggle to secure their national rights. Much more may be asked of them before those rights finally are secured. The same is true of Mr Gusmao. As the likely first leader of independent East Timor, what is asked of him now is that he takes decisions in the interests of all East Timorese.

That doesn't mean turning a blind eye to the atrocities of the recent past. It does mean, on the disarmament issue, recognising that the phase of armed struggle against Indonesian occupation is over and that Interfet's job to restore law and order in the territory is hard enough without it having to make exceptions for his fighters. Mr Gusmao says he is willing to discuss the role of Falintil with Interfet representatives. When he does, he should be prepared to compromise with them as well.

Ruined town yields tales of 200 killings

Rene Flipo, Maliana -- The few people who greeted the first international peacekeepers to arrive in the devastated and deserted town of Maliana yesterday recounted tales of terror, massacres and forced deportations.

Some of the 15,000 population were killed on the spot, many others were forced to go to West Timor, where some were reportedly killed and the remainder fled to the hills, they said.

Every night, they said, soldiers and pro-Jakarta militias gathered people in the police station, blindfolded them, then killed them. There were at least 200 killings of the sort, the residents said.

They started on September 8, after about 500 Indonesian police, soldiers and militia members had carried out an investigation into which of the town's residents had voted for independence in the August 30 ballot.

Paulo Maya, 38, said he saw 20 people being killed in the city stadium, some as young as seven.

Many were deported to West Timor and slaughtered there, said people who emerged from the hills to greet the Australian peacekeepers on their arrival from Balibo.

Queried about the lack of bodies in the stadium and the police station, they said the bodies were taken by truck over the border.

Oliviu Reis Mendoza said he lost two brothers. Paulo Maya said he lost his father and mother in the killings. Humberto Alves, 34, said his mother, father, wife and three children were deported.

Many who turned out to greet the Australian troops waved banners and flags and gave clenched-fist salutes as they shouted: "Freedom or death -- viva East Timor."

"We're very, very happy today," said Anakleto Moris, 25. "Now that Interfet has come to Maliana, I believe we'll get [independence]."

But Luciu Americu, 23, said: "I don't know why it's taken them so long to get here. There haven't been any militia here since September 22."

The ease with which journalists reached the town earlier this week has led to criticism that the Australian-led peace force has been too slow in securing outlying areas. Resistance leader Xanana Gusmao said yesterday the territory could set up a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission to deal with the crimes of the militias.

UN proposes transitional authority

United Nations -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday proposed a United Nations transitional authority for East Timor that would oversee all aspects of civilian life and include some 10,000 peacekeepers and police.

In a report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General details the establishment of a UN Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET) for the period before independence, calling it a "major challenge" for the UN whose success will depend on the "strong and continuing support and cooperation" of the international community.

Under the 5 May Agreements that paved the way for the UN-run ballot in August in which an 80 per cent majority rejected a proposal to remain under Indonesian control with broad autonomy, the UN would assume authority over the territory after the Indonesian Parliament took the necessary constitutional steps "to terminate its links with East Timor." The Parliament is expected to ratify the ballot's results in late October or early November.

According to the Secretary-General's plan, UNTAET would be empowered to exercise all legislative and executive authority, including the administration of justice, in the ruined territory for two to three years until local elections can take place. UNTAET would also establish appropriate advisory bodies to ensure East Timorese participation in the "governance and administration" of the territory.

The Administration would comprise three parts, including a governance and public administration component that would oversee the rebuilding of East Timor's judiciary, civilian police force and public services. This sector would also handle economic, financial and development affairs, run the electoral operations and take charge of each of the territory's 13 regencies, or districts. UNTAET's two other components would provide humanitarian assistance and emergency rehabilitation as well as military protection.

The Secretary-General recommends about 9,000 peacekeeping troops to maintain a secure environment, monitor the "prompt and complete" withdrawal of Indonesian troops and to disarm and demobilize armed groups. A further contingent of 1,250 civilian police would be responsible for law enforcement as well as the recruitment and training of a "credible, professional and impartial" East Timor police force.

Noting that the current situation is "critical," Mr. Annan also appeals to UN Member countries to urgently provide experts to carry out ad hoc measures designed to fill the existing "vacuum of authority" created by the early departure of Indonesian authorities from East Timor.

Alatas `told Downer groups were armed'

Tom Allard -- The Indonesian Foreign Minister told his Australian counterpart, Mr Downer, as early as February that Indonesia was arming pro-integration groups.

According to an article in the Bulletin magazine, the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, told Mr Downer arming of the groups was "legitimate".

Soon after, Mr Downer told the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Mr Jamie Gama, a peacekeeping force "per se" was not wise ahead of the ballot. Instead a UN presence along the lines of the Unamet mission was more appropriate.

Responding to the allegations, Mr Downer said yesterday Mr Alatas had not referred to militias but "auxiliaries found right across Indonesia" which supplemented "under-resourced police and military personnel".

Two weeks after the February meeting, Mr Downer said publicly that Mr Alatas had told him it "wasn't happening, that they weren't arming paramilitaries".

The Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr Ashton Calvert, and a First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Prime Minster and Cabinet, Mr Peter Varghese, had also argued against peacekeepers during meetings with US officials.

Dr Calvert told a senior US State Department official, Mr Stanley Roth: "Australia had not sensed any broad international appetite for a large-scale UN intervention." Mr Roth then warned: "East Timor is about to descend into internecine violence."

Interviewed on the ABC's The 7.30 Report last night, Mr Downer said Dr Calvert and Mr Varghese did not rule out peacekeepers "for a worst-case scenario".

"Australian planners were giving close attention to that, including the possibility of military deployment," he said. "And it ended up Roth agreed the Australian approach would keep a wide number of options open and did not preclude the peacekeeping possibilities."

By June, however, Australia had sent the Vice-Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Doug Riding, to Jakarta to complain about Indonesian involvement "at the highest level" in arming and organising militias.

Refugee tells of killings in West Timor

Balibo -- An escapee from the refugee camps in West Timor said on Sunday that pro- Indonesian militias were hunting down East Timorese men there and killing them.

In the town of Balibo, near the border with West Timor and a former stronghold of pro-Jakarta militias, troops with the multinational force sealed off a bloodstained house in which they suspected sex crimes had been committed.

"The militia in Atambua are hunting out the male refugees. They want to kill them all," Domingos dos Santos told journalists in Balibo where he was being questioned by Australian troops. Dos Santos fled the camps around Atambua, 10 km from the border with East Timor, on Saturday afternoon.

The United Nations estimates there are some 150,000 East Timorese living in appalling conditions in camps in West Timor.

Many of the refugees were driven out of East Timor at gunpoint after last months announcement that the overwhelming majority of East Timorese had voted to end almost 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

US Defence Secretary William Cohen said on Sunday it was vital the refugees in West Timor be allowed home. "We are hoping that this takes place and it is vitally important that it does take place," he told reporters in Manila at the end of a five-nation tour. Dos Santos fled his home in Dili after his uncle was killed by militia on September 4, the day that the result of the independence referendum was announced by the United Nations.

He said the militias, who were created and supported by the Indonesian army, were preventing anyone from returning home. "They told us they want to get everyone out of East Timor and they arent letting them back in. They are saying there is going to be a war in East Timor and we cannot go back until later."

He also accused Indonesian troops of blocking the refugees. "They [the militia and troops] stop the vehicles going back across the border and threaten to kill the people in them. Or if they recognise them, they kill them there on the border."

He said that he fooled the militia into thinking he was one of them in order to escape. "I got to the border yesterday and the militia were searching cars so I pretended to search cars too and then slipped across the border." From the town of Balibo, near the border, thousands of cooking fires can be seen glowing in the night.

Dos Santos said the refugees were not getting any assistance. "Nobody is giving us food or water," he said. The United Nations has visited some of the camps, but say that they are not being given free access by the Indonesian authorities.

Places like Balibo are ghost towns, with no remaining population. Many of the corrugated iron rooves have been stripped off the houses.

In one house in the centre of Balibo, a militia stronghold before the vote, there are bloodstains on the walls and floor.

"We are sealing off the area as a crime scene," said an Australian officer of the international intervention force which secured the town three days ago. "We suspect it has been the scene of sexual crimes," he said.

In a bedroom littered with school books and the clothes of a young girl, lipstick kisses covered the whitewashed concrete walls and the doors.

'Peacekeepers too cautious, aid too slow'

Associated Press, Waimori -- The international peacekeeping force is being too cautious in dealing with the remnants of the militias which ravaged East Timor, the commander of the pro- independence guerillas said yesterday. The Australian-led force was also moving too slowly to get vital aid deliveries to people in the countryside, said Taur Matan Ruak, speaking at his remote base in the hills of central East Timor.

"This could have been done much more quickly," Ruak told a United Nations official, Gilbert Greenall. He offered his own troops as unarmed security escorts for food convoys.

Rauk is the senior commander of Falintil, the armed wing of the resistance movement that opposed Indonesia's occupation of East Timor after the Portuguese relinquished its colony in 1975.

Mr Greenall acknowledged UN agencies "have been slower than we might have been" in getting the aid to people displaced in the aftermath of the August 30 referendum on independence. He said there were plans to pick up the pace of aid delivery this week.

The peace force is mandated to disarm all the militias, including Falintil, except in their own designated bases.

Ruak said the remaining militia in East Timor posed little threat. "They are on the run themselves," he said, and the peace force could be more aggressive in its deployment.

If the peacekeepers needed reinforcement to escort food convoys, his men were ready to volunteer, even without their weapons. "The militia are no match for us, even if we are disarmed," he said. They were effective only as long as they had the regular Indonesian army behind them, he said.

Residents of Cairu, where a convoy of trucks made an aid delivery yesterday, said Falintil fighters drove off militia raiders two weeks ago, killing one of them. Five Falintil were wounded in the gunbattle. Cairu is one of the few villages seen in East Timor to have escaped serious damage.

Interfet wants to disarm Falintil

Slobodan Lekic, Dili -- Stung by criticism of alleged bias, the commander of the international peacekeeping force in East Timor demanded today that pro-independence rebels hand in their weapons.

"The policy is that we disarm any East Timorese who are not in TNI ... we disarm them all," Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove said. TNI is the acronym for the Indonesian army, which has retained two infantry battalions in East Timor after evacuating most of its forces from the territory.

Pro-Jakarta militias, along with Indonesian media and officials, have accused the peacekeepers of a bias toward independence supporters, including the Falintil rebel group, which has battled Indonesian rule since 1975.

The militias and their Indonesian army backers are widely blamed for unleashing an orgy of violence after East Timorese overwhelmingly endorsed independence in an Aug. 30 UN-sponsored referendum.

Top commanders of Falintil have repeatedly stressed their willingness to disarm but have criticized the peacekeepers for their slow deployment.

In the village of Cairu, 50 miles southeast of Dili, a contingent of Gurkha soldiers from the peacekeeping force asked the local Falintil leader to order his men to hand over their weapons.

With journalists watching, the Falintil leader responded he would do so only if the Gurkhas established a permanent presence in the village as protection from marauding militiamen. That ended the discussion, since the peacekeepers, who had been escorting a convoy of relief aid, planned to spend only a few hours in the area. The rebels kept their arms.

Cosgrove, however, described the incident -- which had appeared innocuous -- as verging on violence, calling it "very tense indeed."

"There could have been bloodshed right at that time," he said. "For this province to be at peace, we must take arms out of the hands of those who are untrained and unsanctioned as a military force."

Cosgrove also said he had written to Indonesian commanders to demand that four of their officers be returned to Dili to "assist" in a criminal inquiry into the killing of a Dutch reporter, Sander Thoenes, slain outside the territory's capital on Sept. 21 by men reportedly in Indonesian uniform. He declined to say if the four were suspects.

Meanwhile, Ross Mountain, a UN relief aid coordinator, said the first of some 250,000 East Timorese who had fled to the Indonesian territory of West Timor -- many allegedly at militia gunpoint -- would begin returning Wednesday.

Inside West Timor, pro-Indonesian militia leader Joao da Silva Tavares claimed his forces now number over 53,000 troops and he intended to take East Timor by force.

He said militiamen would accompany groups of pro-Indonesian refugees who planned to cross back into East Timor on foot from camps in the west on Tuesday.
 

Presidential succession

PDI-P says no plans to mobilize masses

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), the party which obtained the largest votes at the last general elections, says it has no intention to mobilize the masses no matter what the result of the presidential election on October 20 as non-violence has become its policy.

"Our non-violent policy has been stated by our Chairperson [Megawati Soekarnoputri] at her recent political speech that PDI Perjuangan will not allow even a drop of blood to be shed by the people," Kwik Kian Gie, a PDI-P leader told a press conference yesterday.

Some political analysts have expressed pessimism that Megawati will be elected as the fourth Indonesian president although her party collected the largest number of votes (34%) at the June 7 general election.

This has also been prompted by the fact that during the first round of the general session of the People's Consultative Assembly, PDI-P failed to obtain support from other parties.

PDI-P lost in all posts contested for at the DPR/MPR, as the smaller parties grouped with the Axis Forces, in electing the speakers for the MPR and the DPR respectiely.

Some analysts have expressed anxiety that PDI-P supporters may not be able to accept the results of the presidential election if Megawati fails to become the president.

Kwik stressed Megawati has expressed the non-violent policy of the party not only to the Indonesian people, but also when she delivered her speech in front of foreign diplomats and other members of the international community. "Ibu [Mrs.] Megawati always tells foreign guests who she meets that she is against violence," Kwik stressed.

Kwik also said that all PDI-P leaders have given an undertaking to their supporters that leaders of the party would work all out for Megawati's presidential bid. "But it we lose at the presidential election, [we will explain to them], it is democracy," Kwik added.

Supporting Kwik's statement, the Chairman of the PDI Faction at the MPR, Sutjipto said that mass mobilization will never become the party's policy. Instead party leaders will attempt to seek an understanding from members should Megawati fail in her bid for the presidency.

Recognising that it could be an emotional issue should Megawati be defeated, Sutjipto, who is chairman of the East Java PDI Chapter, one of the party's strongholds, added: "We have never discussed mass mobilization. Our policy is controlling our supporters' emotions because as stated by Pak Kwik, it is a principle that has been expressed by our chairperson."

Sutjipto was confident that PDI-P supporters would understand the explanation of its leaders. "Luckily, our supporters usually follow what has been expressed by our chairperson," he said.

Golkar co-operation key to presidency

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- The most open secret in Jakarta's murky political world is about the meeting which presidential frontrunner Megawati Sukarnoputri had with chairman of the ruling Golkar party, Akbar Tanjung.

Sources say a deal was struck at the meeting on Tuesday night which would still give the presidency to Ms Megawati, in co- operation with the wing of Golkar which is aligned with Mr Akbar.

The deal involved Ms Megawati's party -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle -- giving support to Mr Akbar in his bid for the Speaker's post in the House of Representatives (DPR), a commitment which came to pass with his successful election.

"Now the idea is that Akbar supports Megawati for president so long as he can become vice-president, but we'll have to see if the deal lasts the next one-and-a-half weeks," a political source said.

The spoiler could be the now-formal presidential nomination of Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur, by his own National Awakening Party (PKB) and by Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Justice Party (PK) -- two members of the Axis Force, a grouping of Islamist parties.

Time will tell if Gus Dur as presidential candidate is the dark horse, or a Trojan horse who will split the PKB and the wider Islamist constituency in his unlikely bid for power.

The deal is based on the assumption that there remains a widespread popular expectation that Ms Megawati should be president because her party won a plurality in the June general elections.

At the same time, the way in which Mr Amien and Mr Akbar have swayed votes their way to secure the Speaker's jobs in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the DPR respectively heralds a new era in Indonesian politics.

These men and the hardened politicians behind them appear eager to assert a new dynamism in a parliament which was but a rubber-stamp under former president Suharto -- with a concomitant weakening of the office of president.

Ms Megawati's weaknesses would fit this notion of a more symbolic presidency, leaving the running of the country to an emboldened parliament.

Alternatively, some sources suggest that part of Gus Dur's appeal is his physical frailty, which opens possibilities for more change at the top before the end of his first five-year term.

Of further interest is the fact that it is a faction of Golkar which is now a key actor in the post-Suharto era due to the adept politicking of Mr Akbar and ally Marzuki Darusman. Similarly, the military's block of votes are not crucial to the numbers game if Ms Megawati and Golkar can stay good friends.

Wahid strong contender for president

Jakarta -- Muslim leader Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid Thursday emerged as a strong contender to be Indonesia's next president in a race with opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and incumbent B.J. Habibie.

With only two weeks to go until the election the National Awakening Party (PKB), which finished third in the June 7 parliamentary elections, said it would "most likely" withdraw support for Megawati. It would instead back Wahid in the October 20 presidential election by the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The PKB has so far been an ally of Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno and leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP), winner of the June 7 polls.

"We will immediately hold a meeting. And most likely we will support Gus Dur," Alwi Shihab, deputy chairman of PKB, was quoted by the Kompas daily as saying. "We have to be thankful that our leader is nominated as president. PKB can't but support the nomination," Shihab added.

Wahid was formally nominated as a presidential candidate of the Reform faction of the new national assembly on Wednesday.

The Reform faction pairs the People's Mandate Party (PAN) of reformist politician Amien Rais, now speaker of the national assembly, and the Muslim Justice Party.

Although Wahid's name had already been floated by an alliance of seven Muslim parties for president, his candidacy only became official Wednesday.

Wahid heads the country's largest Islamic organization, the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which created the PKB after the fall of former president Suharto last year.

The stock market reacted cautiously to Wahid's nomination, with the index closingd 0.6 lower as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude, dealers said.

"I think the market is still confused about the signals about who is going to become the next president," a dealer with Lippo Securities said.

Khofifah Indar Parawansa of the PKB had earlier said that once Wahid had been nominated by a faction in the parliament, the party would throw its support behind him.

"Gus Dur is a prominent figure in our party, but we cannot support him if none of the factions has nominated him," she was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying. She said PKB's formal support must be decided in an internal meeting between party executives.

But Shihab said the party wanted to see how serious the reform faction was in nominating Wahid. "Is it only rhetoric and words, or are they serious in garnering bigger support?" he said.

Analysts say Megawati's chances of winning the presidency have weakened following her party defeats in the elections of chairman of the MPR and speaker of the lower house (DPR).

But Dimyati Hartono, one of Megawati deputies, said on Wednesday he was optimistic Megawati would become president. "Up until now, the PDIP is still optimistic," Hartono said.

"They [speakers' positions] are not defeats for PDIP because the MPR and the DPR are both not the targets [of PDIP,]" Hartono said, adding that the main objective of the party was to ensure Megawati became president.

PDIP's candidate for the MPR chairmanship, Matori Abdul Jalil, lost by a slight margin of 26 votes against Muslim reform leader Amien Rais who received the backing of the ruling Golkar and an alliance of several Muslim parties.

Many fear a violent backlash by Megawati's supporters, who are mostly urban and rural poor, if she is not elected president despite her party's victory in the elections.

PDIP executives, and Megawati herself, have reasoned that the party that won the most votes in the parliamentary elections holds the right to lead the country.

Megawati's presidential bid losing steam

Agencies in Jakarta -- Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri's chances of becoming Indonesia's next president weakened yesterday as a political rival won a key post and her party's main ally pondered withdrawing support.

Several hundred Megawati supporters demonstrated in central Jakarta, demanding the country's legislature select her as the next leader.

Her party scrambled to find legislators to back her after a vote in the early hours left the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) in the hands of its arch-rival.

Political analysts blamed the hugely popular Ms Megawati for assuming her party's victory in June's election ensured she would become president.

Akbar Tanjung, chairman of President Bacharuddin Habibie's Golkar party, became Speaker in a secret ballot of the 500-member parliament by winning a massive 411 votes.

It was the second such setback for Ms Megawati's camp this week. On Sunday reformist Amien Rais, backed by an alliance of Muslim parties, defeated a Megawati-backed candidate to become Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will elect a president on October 20.

Although many members of Ms Megawati's party voted for Mr Tandjung, he denied any deal had been struck on the presidency.

Ms Megawati's supporters have begun sounding uneasy about the October 20 presidential vote. She has been regarded as the favourite for months.

"We don't feel that we are going to be defeated but we must never rule out that possibility," said one official of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. However, party deputy chairman Dimyati Hartono said the party was "still optimistic" about her chances.

A senior official of the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) warned that it might withdraw its support for Ms Megawati's candidacy in favour of its own founder, Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid. That would virtually kill off Ms Megawati's hopes.

PKB co-chairman Alwi Shihab said the switch depended on seven other Muslim-oriented parties formalising their declared support for the frail, nearly blind Mr Wahid, also known as Gus Dur.

Mr Wahid yesterday accepted nomination for the presidency by Mr Rais' party and another small Muslim party, a spokesman for the two parties said. Even with PKB's 51 votes, Ms Megawati is not assured election.

Analysts said her party, which won June's parliamentary election, had not lobbied properly. They accused her of being imperious and assuming that her party's 153 seats assured her the presidency.

The daughter of founding president Sukarno, she is adored for her staunch opposition to long-term ruler Mr Suharto during his chaotic last years in office. But her party is well short of a majority in the 700-member MPR.

Analysts fear violence in Indonesia if Ms Megawati fails to win the presidency, especially if the victor turns out to be the unpopular President Bacharuddin Habibie.

PDI-P's abysmal lobbying skills

Susan Sim, Jakarta -- In an extraordinary display of the lobbying skills of Golkar leaders, party chief Akbar Tandjung was set to be elected Speaker of Parliament (DPR) without a vote being cast last night.

Banking on its earlier deal with the Central Axis bloc of Muslim parties, Golkar persuaded the Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan (PDI-P) to come on board and so prevent a damaging showdown that would make it difficult for both to cooperate later in the final game -- for the presidency.

If the post were to be contested, Mr Akbar would probably still squeak in past anyone fielded by the 204-strong alliance of PDI-P and the Nation Awakening Party (PKB) in the 500-seat House -- much as the Central Axis' Amien Rais did in a Sunday vote for control of the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The double defeat would not only underscore the potency of the Muslim lobby against Ms Megawati Soekarnoputri, the PDI-P's chief and presidential candidate, but also expose anew her party's ineptitude in the cut-and-thrust of coalition-building politics.

Explaining why Golkar worked hard to get Mr Akbar acclaimed as House Speaker with PDI-P and PKB support rather than take it to the vote, deputy secretary-general Muchyar Yara said: "The problem is not that Megawati's people are arrogant, but that she doesn't think the post is important.

"But it is important, and if we vote against each other for it, then psychologically, the members from both sides are going to become more unsympathetic to each other. It will be difficult to cooperate on the presidential election later."

But sources said some Central Axis leaders were keen on a vote to drive a wedge between Golkar and the PDI-P even after reaching a consensus on Mr Akbar as Speaker. At midnight several legislators were still delaying proceedings as they haggled for a vote.

In contrast to Golkar, the PDI-P's lobbying skills have been showing up poorly under the spotlight.

Observers were shocked when it failed to secure a single regional ticket to the MPR from the Riau parliament on Monday despite being the second largest vote-getter in the province.

Golkar took three of the five seats, including one for Home Minister Syarwan Hamid, and the other two went to Central Axis parties. Each MPR seat is important to the PDI-P if it hopes to secure the presidency for Ms Megawati come October 20.

But at each turn, PDI-P has not only been left complaining that other parties "ganged up" against it, but an erstwhile Megawati ally, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, has also suggested he might challenge her for the presidency.

A close aide of Mr Abdurrahman said he was making a play only to force her to change policies, while at the same time neutralise President B.J. Habibie's influence with the Muslim parties.

But signals have been conflicting even to the PDI-P, who privately dismiss Mr Abdurrahman as "unreliable".

Even if Mr Abdurrahman enters as a Central Axis candidate -- thereby splitting Ms Megawati's support in PKB, the party he founded -- he would still need Golkar and military votes.

But Golkar, locked in an internal struggle over Dr Habibie's candidacy, is likely to give Mr Abdurrahman short shrift. Reformers opposed to Dr Habibie are uncomfortable with any group playing the Muslim card, and individually are more likely to vote for Ms Megawati and her more inclusive brand of nationalist politics.

The military, now standing aloof as it contemplates its declining influence as a political player, will also be concerned not only with the backlash from nationalist hardliners, but will also have to calculate the risks of mass unrest if the popular Ms Megawati does not become president, analysts say.

For PDI-P legislators, the bottom line is this: As the majority party, they can obstruct any government by withholding support. Warned Mr Subagio Anam: "Any president who's not Megawati will be short-lived because we control Parliament."

Bets off for presidential election

Vaudine England and agencies, Jakarta -- All bets are now off for the forthcoming presidential poll in the wake of several startling, democratic events in the country's highest political body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

As deliberation proceeds on who should be Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), politicians and observers were yesterday still trying to understand the 11th-hour success of reformist politician Amien Rais in securing the Speaker's job in the MPR.

Meanwhile, the bloc of Muslim parties which lobbied for Mr Rais was now said to be pressuring the Golkar party to support Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid in the October 20 presidential poll.

The grouping wants the MPR to choose Mr Wahid over frontrunner Megawati Sukarnoputri and President Bacharuddin Habibie, Golkar's candidate, but faces growing opposition on a number of fronts. Mr Wahid leads Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, the 40- million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama.

A significant point about the election of Mr Rais to MPR Speaker is that a vote was required, and was conducted by secret ballot.

On a separate front, the fact that Mr Rais -- former leader of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organisation -- went to kiss Mr Wahid shows how well these two former rivals are now getting along politically.

Their ability to work together, as seen when Mr Wahid lobbied for Mr Rais' victory, poses a direct threat to Ms Megawati's claim to the presidency. Her own candidate for MPR Speaker lost to a combination of Muslim groups and Golkar.

Ms Megawati yesterday warned the MPR not to create a "distortion" by failing to reflect the results of the June 7 general election.

Speaking after the swearing in of Mr Rais, Ms Megawati said that, "with all the [Indonesian] people have done for their sovereignty", failure by the MPR session to reflect the results of the election would "bring about a distortion" -- alluding to possible protests by her supporters. She did not elaborate.

"It's a consequence of her own inaction since the general election," said a political insider, expressing a widespread view. "She never responded to Amien Rais' gestures, so she lost him and lost his influence. It seems to make things harder for Mega, unless there's some very deep Javanese plot going on which we can't imagine," a political analyst said.

"It also seems that if this [Rais' victory] was the result of collusion between Golkar and the Muslims, then maybe Mr Habibie is not as weak as we thought.

"Also, with Matori Abdul Djalil [from PKB, National Awakening Party] and Ginandjar Kartasasmita [from Golkar] now as Vice- Speakers of the MPR, that means they are out of the presidential race too."

Regardless of what happens next, which no one is predicting, the message from the new MPR is that whoever becomes president will face a feisty parliament and a concomitant lessening of power.

"This is good news from a democratic perspective," said the insider. "So we'll see if this will also materialise during the presidential election."

Mr Habibie said yesterday he was ready to deliver to the MPR his accountability speech outlining his performance and achievements.

Assembly picks reformist speaker

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta -- Indonesia's supreme legislative assembly elected a leading reformist as speaker on Sunday in its first contested vote since the 1950s, a step which could be crucial in the fight for the presidency.

After a debate which lasted most of the day the 700-member assembly -- which later this month will choose the country's next president -- picked Amien Rais, popular reform leader and head of the minority National Mandate Party. Rais, who polled 305 votes, immediately pledged to reform the constitution and tighten control over the new government.

Though it is officially one of the most powerful positions in Indonesia, past autocratic presidents ensured the chairmanship of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) went to figures who toed the government line.

In second place was the head of the Moslem-backed Nation Awakening Party, Matori Abdul Djalil, with 279 votes. He was backed by the leading Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI- P), headed by presidential frontrunner Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Rais is a key member of the so-called "central axis" of Moslem and reform politicians which is backing Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid in the October 20 presidential election.

"I will look at the MPR decrees and take out those which are not necessary, and go on with an effort to amend the 1945 constitution," Rais told reporters after the vote.

Rais gave no details but he is widely known to back far greater provincial autonomy in the huge archipelago and wants to curb the political role of the powerful military.

"I hope that the upcoming government, whoever the president is, can be checked every year, not every five years," he added.

Indonesia's first two presidents were autocrats and the third and current incumbent, the deeply unpopular B.J. Habibie, has only been in the job just over 16 months. He is widely expected to lose the October 20 presidential election.

Initially, Abdurrahman Wahid had been favourite for MPR speaker, which would have kept him out of the presidential race.

Though almost blind and in poor health, the 58-year-old Wahid has been viewed as a possible compromise presidential candidate if former opposition leader Megawati is unable to win enough support in the newly-formed assembly.

Her party has the most seats in the assembly but not enough to dictate the result in the presidential vote. Analysts said if she ran alone against Habibie she would almost certainly win.

If Wahid joins the race, it could split reformists trying to end the legacy of disgraced autocrat Suharto, who after more than three decades in power was forced to step down in May last year, handing the presidency to his acolyte Habibie. The elections of speaker and president will be the first real contests since the 1950s in the MPR, which in later decades became a "rubber stamp" assembly.

The body is dominated by freely elected lawmakers after general elections for the lower House of Representatives in June, the nation's first free vote since 1955. Megawati's party won the biggest share of the vote in June, but fell short of a majority.
 

Political/economic crisis

Ten die in clashes in Maluku

Jakarta -- At least ten people have been killed and scores injured in renewed clashes between Muslims and Christians in an island in the riot-torn Indonesian province of Maluku, reports said Friday.

The battle on Thursday broke out after groups of people from the Saparua island launched an attack on residents in the neighbouring island of Haruku, the Media Indonesia newspaper said.

Meanwhile, four bodies with gunshot wounds were found on Thursday in the Air Besar area of the strife-torn Ambon city, the capital of Maluku, a local journalist said.

A man was also killed on the same day in clashes in the Ahuru area of the city, the journalist said. "There are indications that the killings were conducted by snipers and they use standard military weapons," he said.

"The Maluku governor [Saleh Latuconsina] has urged the military to uncover the mysterious shooters," he added.

Earlier this week, two army soldiers were killed by unidentified gunmen when they were trying to quell clashes between Muslim and Christian residents in the city.

Indonesia records 7th month of deflation

Moris Morissan, Jakarta -- Indonesia on Friday reported its seventh straight month of falling prices in another sign that the grass roots of its shattered economy were recovering from crisis. Indonesia's statistics bureau reported month-on-month inflation of minus 0.68 percent in September, bringing the year-on-year rate -- which peaked at 82.4 percent in September last year -- down to a mere 1.25 percent. The figures mainly reflect falling food prices, as staple crops like rice rebound after widespread drought last year and as the nation's distribution network recovers from massive upheaval.

When Indonesia collapsed into political and economic turmoil in mid 1998, some retailers simply shut down and many Chinese merchants, who had come under popular attack, fled the country.

But the statistics bureau said Indonesians were now more hardened to their country's problems and no longer reacted by stopping production or closing down businesses.

"Unlike last year, right now people have got used to rumours of unrest and they are not easily prompted to stop production or close the shops," bureau chief Sugito Suwito said.

Only last week, Jakarta's streets erupted into riots in which seven people were killed. The unrest was sparked by mass protests over a new internal security law. "The recent student protests about the security bill did not affect people significantly," Suwito said.

Economists said September's deflation was widely expected and that it would be difficult to maintain to the end of the year. "It was already expected in September, but we have to look till the end of the year because people will buy more ahead of Christmas and the Eid al Fitr Moslem festivals," said Laksono Widodo, head of research at ING Baring Securities Indonesia.

September's fall in prices followed monthly inflation of minus 0.93 percent in August and a yearly rate of 5.77 percent. The bureau said lower food prices contributed most to September's result. It has predicted that inflation in calendar 1999 will be under five percent.

Indonesia also reported on Friday a trade surplus of $2.585 billion in August. Exports totalled $4.599 billion and imports $2.014 billion. The trade surplus in July was $2.007 billion. Non-oil exports in August were $3.585 billion and non-oil imports in August were $1.635 billion.

Indonesia's trade surplus has ballooned as it endures its worst economic crisis in three decades -- not because of a rise in exports but because imports have dived.

Indonesia has been engulfed by violence since it was swept up in Asia's economic crisis in 1997. Riots in the capital in May last year killed around 1,200 people and finally forced long-term president Suharto from power after 32 years.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Students demand self-determination

Lhokseumawe -- Some 800 students in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh rallied Monday to demand an East Timor-style referendum on self-determination.

The protesters, picketting the district council building in the city of Lhokseumawe in north Aceh, called for the prosecution of those guilty of human rights violations in the province and opposed proposals by the military to establish a regional command for the province.

Hundreds of housewives meanwhile protested outside the district police station, demanding the release of their children and husbands who were arrested during a protest on Friday.

Aceh has suffered years of violence between soldiers and members and supporters of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) which has been fighting for an Islamic state since the 1970s.

Resentment and discontent against the central government has spiralled following Jakarta's failure to punish members of the military for human rights abuses that occurred during anti-rebel operations over the last decade.

When the operations ended last year, rights groups unearthed mass graves and brought forward scores of victims of rape and torture which shocked Indonesia. Military violence continued even after the operations were officially halted.

The bitterness against the government has been further fuelled by dissatisfaction over the exploitation of Aceh's natural resources, including natural gas. Little of the profit generated has been reinvested in the province.

The discontent has led to mounting calls for a referendum on self-determination for Aceh, which the government has staunchly ruled out.

Violence, tension hurt economy in Aceh

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta -- Violence between Indonesian troops and separatists is hurting the local economy and scaring off investors in the northern Sumatran province of Aceh.

One of the hardest hit sectors in the resource-rich province is coffee growing, traders said on Thursday. Nearly 40 percent of Indonesia's output of the arabica coffee variety comes from the staunchly Moslem province.

But many coffee growers have been forced to abandon their plantations in Aceh, the traders said, for fear of violence or because migrant plantation workers have been attacked.

Production has fallen and coffee bean shipments to the central Sumatran commodity city of Medan have often been disrupted by violence on the main road from Aceh.

"The main issue is security. Buyers are reluctant to take positions while farmers are worried about their safety because plantations are located in remote highlands," said one trader in Medan.

"I think 30 percent of the arabica plantations in Aceh have been abandoned. You may not hear of fresh violence lately, but still everyone is cautious," said the trader who has a plantation in Aceh.

Workers on the plantations, many of them settlers from the main island of Java, have become targets of repeated attacks amid escalating violence. They have largely fled.

Road transport firms have suspended coffee bean shipments to Medan on a series of occasions after a spate of arson attacks. Coffee is transported by land from Aceh to Medan, which is also the main export port from Aceh.

"Transport of coffee from Aceh to Medan is still smooth, but drivers do not dare to bring the commodity in the evening for security reasons," another trader in Medan said.

"I don't hear new reports of violence, but the thing is that is everyone is scared in Aceh," he added.

"Harvesting has started in Aceh, but they [plantation owners] just cannot find workers to harvest the coffee. Workers used to be the Javanese settlers, but they have gone because of the violence," a third trader in Medan said.

Indonesia's arabica output constitutes up to 15 percent of the country's coffee production, which is expected to stand at 450,000 tonnes in 1999/00 (Oct-Sept) against 380,000 tonnes in 1998/99.

Traders said they had yet to estimate a decline in output because of the unattended coffee farms. The official Antara news agency said on Thursday Aceh exported 3,688 tonnes of arabica in Jan-Sept against 4,011 tonnes in the same period in 1998.

It said the coffee was exported to the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany and Denmark. Dry-processed arabica is currently on sale at 14,000-15,000 rupiah/kg.

Arabica plantations in Aceh represented 97,886 hectares of land, Antara said.

The Indonesian Coffee Association said the high costs of growing the aromatic and expensive variety, problems in finding suitable highlands and violence in Aceh had triggered slow growth in arabica.
 

Labour struggle

Police clash with striking workers

Medan -- Five people were seriously injured on Thursday in a clash between riot police and workers demanding a pay rise near the Indonesian city of Medan, witnesses and hospital sources said.

Police fired blanks at around 100 workers striking near a steel factory just outside the city on Sumatra island. Dozens of police were assisted by around 300 youths carrying knives and spears. The clash followed a series of protests near the factory of steel firm PT Gunung Dahapi.

"Suddenly the youths and the security forces attacked us," said one worker. Hospital sources said one of the five injured was in critical condition.

Worker protests have become common around Medan, an industrial city 1,425 km northwest of Jakarta, as Indonesia endures its worst economic crisis in three decades. Several have turned violent.
 

News & issues

Australian soldier's effigy burnt

Jakarta -- Families of Indonesian veterans of East Timor protested at the Australian embassy here on Saturday, burning an effigy representing Australian soldiers.

The some 200 protestors, mostly children of the veterans, wearing army fatigues, lashed out at Australian troops in the Australian-led International Force for East Timor (Interfet) over the latest clashes in the territory that left two pro-Indonesia militia killed.

They burned a cloth effigy sporting the name Interfet and slogans such as "Agressors of East Timor", "Stupid soldiers" and "Australian troops". The effigy stood on two tyres which caught fire, sending up a column of acrid smoke.

"General Cosgrove, widowmaker," said one of the posters carried by the protestors, referring to the Interfet commander. Another said "Australian Army, have you ordered your body bags?"

Some of the protestors also attempted to climb the high steel fence of the embassy, but some 100 police and auxiliary forces guarding the embassy made no attempt at stopping them. The embassy was closed for business Saturday.

It was the latest anti-Australia demonstration at the embassy which has almost seen daily protests including flag burnings in the past weeks.

The embassy was once pelted with stones and fuel bombs while unidentified gunmen have shot three times at the mission this month. The Australian International School in Jakarta was attacked Monday with fuel bombs hurled by unknown men.

Potests have also been held at Australian consulates in several other towns, forcing the closure of two of them.

Anti-Australian sentiment has been on the rise following Canberra's sharply critical stance on Indonesia's handling of the violence in East Timor and its pressure to push for an international peacekeeping force there.

UK keeps lid on role in ousting Sukarno

Documents which would reveal Britain's secret role in Indonesian politics in the Sixties that led to "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century" and Jakarta's eventual annexation of East Timor are being kept under lock and key.

They would uncover the Foreign Office and MI6's role in helping General Suharto seize power. His regime, backed by military hardware from Britain and the United States, occupied East Timor in 1975 and killed up to one-third of the population.

The historian Mark Curtis believes Britain turned a blind eye to anti-communist massacres of 500,000 people that followed an abortive coup against President Sukarno in 1965, and may have aided the action that led to Suharto taking over the following year.

The Cabinet Office, which is in charge of "open government" policy, refuses to declassify documents at the Public Record Office at Kew and Churchill College, Cambridge. They are being held beyond the 30-year period when files are normally released. Officials cite "sensitivity" in refusing to release them. Key documents are those of the British ambassador to Indonesia in the mid-Sixties, the late Sir Andrew Gilchrist. They include some of his personal papers. Most are open except those dealing with Indonesia. Gilchrist was a key advocate of a policy of destabilising President Sukarno.

The Independent requested the release of the Gilchrist documents in 1997. They have been reviewed but no more papers have been released.

Gilchrist arrived in Indonesia in 1962 as it was pursuing a policy of "confrontation" with Britain's former colony Malaya. By 1963, British, Malaysian, Australian and New Zealand forces were engaged in a low- level conflict with Indonesia in which British special forces and MI6 became involved.

As a result of this and the increasing power of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Britain supported the anti-communist Indonesian military and Suharto's seizure of power. British intelligence contacted him in 1965, when he sent messengers to reassure the British that the army would not step up operations against them and to explore the possibility of ending the "confrontation".

These channels were put to good use after the abortive coup in October 1965 that triggered the rise of Suharto and the massacres.

Mr Curtis found in documents -- some of which have since been reclassified by the Foreign Office -- that when the Indonesian army set about eliminating the PKI, Gilchrist ensured that it knew Britain would suspend offensive operations so that it could concentrate on killing communists.

Carmel Budriardjo, a founder of the Indonesian Human Rights Organisation, said "the relationship became very close quickly" between Britain, America and the Indonesian military. Suharto was offered economic aid and the lifting of the embargo on sales of military aircraft by Britain.

Mr Curtis said that at the very least "Britain turned a blind eye to the bloody massacres and at most actively aided it. And I think there are still some question marks over the degree of that actively aiding". Among classified papers is a letter to Gilchrist from the Foreign Office official Norman Reddaway, political adviser to the commander-in-chief, Far East. Just after the apparent communist coup attempt he arrived in Singapore. His brief was "to do whatever I could do to get rid of Sukarno".

Suharto took power in 1966 after the coup attempt linked to the PKI, whose involvement was the pretext for Suharto's elimination of it and the massacres. Sukarno's alleged involvement was used by Suharto to discredit and replace him.

The British were not alone in supporting Suharto's coup. According to open documents, one of Gilchrist's key contacts was Suharto's foreign minister, Adam Malik, later identified by the envoy as having given crucial advice to Suharto on how to "eliminate the PKI" and "undermine Sukarno's remaining power".

Malik's aide received a hit-list of 5,000 suspected communists from the Central Intelligence Agency. On 6 November 1965 the Americans fulfilled army requests for weapons "to arm Muslim and nationalist youth in central Java for use against the PKI".

Although President Suharto resigned in May 1998 after Indonesia's economic collapse and widespread civil unrest, the army still exerts enormous power in the country.

Keating is "Suharto accomplice": Horta

Sydney -- East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta launched a bitter attack on former Australian prime minister Paul Keating on Tuesday, accusing him of betraying the people of East Timor.

His attack followed criticism by Keating of current Prime Minister John Howard, whom he blamed for creating the East Timorese disaster to gain domestic political advantage and votes.

Keating said Howard had pressed Indonesian President B.J. Habibie to allow East Timor's self-rule ballot and the result was 500,000 out of a population of 800,000 were missing with 60 percent of its buildings destroyed. "This is a complete disaster," Keating said.

But in a strong defence of Howard, Ramos Horta, joint winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as international spokesman for the East Timorese, said he found Keating's words "nauseating."

"He never said a word of criticism about the brutality during his time," Ramos Horta told ABC radio. "He has not said a word of condemnation of the killings in East Timor for the last few months.

"How dare he criticise the only prime minister in Australia in 23 years who has had the courage to respond to the appeals to the cries of the people of East Timor."

A succession of Australian prime ministers, including Keating, have been accused here and overseas of acquiescing in Indonesia's seizure of East Timor and turning a blind eye to the deaths of an estimated 200,000 East Timorese people since 1975. Ramos Horta said the people of East Timor would remember John Howard and his government as the only government that tried to help them.

"They will remember the likes of Paul Keating for year after year were an accomplice of the Suharto regime," he said. "For 23 years Australia betrayed the people of East Timor, 200,000 died because of Indonesian army's behaviour and the complicity of successive Australian governments.

"Long before Howard sent a letter to Habibie, there was pressure from the US Congress, from the European Union, from people through the region itself to change policy on East Timor."

Ramos Horta said there was a cosy relationship between Australia and Indonesia in which they had joint military exercises, and Australia had provided military and intelligence training as well as economic aid to the Suharto regime. But while claiming a special relationship with Indonesia, it was unable to persuade Jakarta to stop the killings.

He said one single life was too high a cost for independence, but it would not stop the people of East Timor fighting or dying for their freedom. "Should the people of East Timor not vote, renounce all their rights just because the Indonesians might kill them?.

"Maybe Paul Keating is a coward, maybe he prefers to surrender to dictators to tyrants, but not the people of East Timor. I lost three brothers, a sister in this war, I still do not know where one of my sisters is at the moment. Our house in Dili was ransacked as well.

"Maybe other families are like me, but we are still saying we are going to fight, we will fight for independence, for freedom for our country."

He asked if Australia wanted a relationship with Indonesia of servility, of subservience to the hardliners, to Kopassus and to Suharto. "Or do you want a relationship where Australia can be proud to say: `We stand for human rights'."

Sell-off to pay for Timor

Tony Wright, Canberra -- The Federal Government is considering selling billions of dollars worth of prime defence land throughout Australia to pay for its massively expensive military commitment to East Timor.

With estimates of Australia's commitment reaching $2 billion a year, The Age learnt yesterday that Mr John Fahey's Finance Department is demanding that Mr John Moore's Defence Department urgently draw up a list of properties that could be put up for sale.

It is understood the Government believes up to $16 billion of military properties could be sold outright or on leaseback arrangements, dramatically reducing the need for the Government to dig into its Budget surplus to fund the East Timor deployment.

The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, admitted yesterday that the East Timor crisis -- and the cost of helping rebuild the shattered island state -- would have implications for the Budget, but could not predict how expensive the whole operation could be.

However, highly reliable sources said the Government was working frantically behind the scenes to find revenue that would reduce pressure to make politically damaging reductions to health, education and welfare spending, or to sacrifice promised tax cuts. Defence has traditionally resisted pressure to sell large tracts of its land and buildings, but Finance officials are arguing that it must accede under present circumstances if it is to receive a funding boost.

Victorian properties being considered include Victoria Barracks in St Kilda Road, the RAAF's Point Cook facility, Watsonia Army Barracks at Heidelberg, and military land at Portsea.

Other training establishments owned by the Army, Navy and RAAF and disused military land in all states are in the Finance Department's sights, according to reliable sources.

Prime ocean-front land at Middle Head in Sydney, in several areas in and around Perth, properties in Canberra, and sites in Darwin, Queensland and Tasmania are under active consideration for sale.

The military's move towards northern Australia has left a wide range of defence properties in the southern states either under- used or vacant. However, major operational military bases would be quarantined from sale because of security considerations.

The Defence Housing Authority, which owns about 20,000 dwellings at 50 different sites around Australia, is also being targeted for privatisation, although about half its off-base homes are already in private hands on leaseback terms. The Government wanted to sell the authority last year, but then Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop, fought successfully against the move. The authority's market value would be likely to be more than $2 billion.

Both the Finance and Defence departments were instructed earlier this year to begin a review of defence property, but Government sources said defence reluctance had meant that terms of reference had not yet been decided.

However, the East Timor emergency, coupled with Mr Howard's belief that the defence budget must be increased from its present $11billion a year, has placed urgent pressure on the process. About three weeks ago the Government instructed the departments to accelerate their review, and political pressure has increased substantially since then.

Mr Howard told Parliament yesterday that his original estimate of $500 million to send 2000 troops to East Timor for six months would obviously rise if the deployment continued longer, and would be higher again if the number of troops rose to the 4500 he has said he would be prepared to commit.

Responding to questions from the Opposition, he said he had asked the Finance and Defence departments to provide precise projections on future costs, but the figures were not yet available. "It is no secret that this troop deployment will cost this country a lot of money," he said.

Mr Chris Richardson, the director of the respected economic consulting group Access Economics, predicted the cost could rise to $2 billion a year. He said the choices for the Government were to dig into the surplus, risking higher interest rates, cut spending on health and education, or reduce promised tax cuts.

The Financial Services Minister, Mr Joe Hockey, told Parliament that, if needed, the Government would dip into its budget surplus. "And if we have to replenish that surplus spent on East Timor by budget cuts, expenditure cuts in other areas or other forms of fiscal change then you will find out about it in due course," he said.

Mr Howard told Parliament that he believed Australia should "contribute a significant amount to East Timor's future", over and beyond the cost of the military commitment.

"It is hardly reasonable to support a country's aspiration for freedom and then run away from it when it has an appalling living standard," he said.
 

Arms/Armed forces

TNI urges endorsement of Timor vote

Jakarta -- Indonesia's military on Wednesday urged the country's new national assembly to endorse East Timor's independence vote and formally free the territory it invaded in 1975.

Police Brigadier General Taufiequrochman Ruki, reading out the views of the 38-strong parliamentary faction of military and police MPs said the military favored letting East Timor go.

"The TNI/Polri (military-police) faction, herewith proposes that a stand be taken to endorse the result of the popular consultation," Ruki said.

The general was refering to the UN-held ballot in East Timor on August 30 which overwhelmingly rejected an offer of autonomy under Indonesia, opting instead to break away from the country.

"This decision should of course, be followed up by handing over the handling of the territory of East Timor to the United Nations that will lead it to form its own government," he said.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) must take a decision on the ballot because the annexation of East Timor into Indonesia in 1976 was endorsed by an MPR decree issued in 1978, he added.

The vote is scheduled to be taken at a plenary session of the MPR between October 14 and October 20.

Endorsing the result of the poll would also "release TNI and Polri personnel ... from the dilemma" of having to accept the ballot result while the territory was still formally part of Indonesia, Ruki said.

Ruki added the proposal was made "without any intention to influence the assembly of honorable members of the MPR on the government policy to hold the popular consultation."

Unpopular military plays games with blame

Tim Dodd -- General Wiranto knows who to blame for Indonesia's problems. It's a man in a black dinner suit with a mobile phone who is secretly directing the host of dark forces tearing at the unity of the nation.

Wiranto, together with President B.J. Habibie, presided over the Armed Forces Day ceremonies at the General's Jakarta headquarters yesterday and, after the formations of troops had marched and wheeled, this message was delivered to the nation on live television in a piece of none-to-subtle political theatre.

First came groups of dancers in spectacular traditional costumes, one group from each of the country's main ethnic divisions, who performed under the red-and-white national flag.

But this happy reverie was spoilt by the guy in the dinner suit, a James Bond-style villain, who brought with him a horde of masked followers dressed in black. To ensure the meaning was clear, most of them had provokator or gadungan (impostor) written prominently on their tops.

After receiving orders via the mobile, they proceeded to accost each ethnic group the Irian Jayans, the Dayaks, the Bataks, the Balinese and so on tempting them to betray the national ideals. But, happily, they failed and the performance ended with patriotic songs as the whole cast, backed by a thousand or so troops, swayed to the music in a sea of red-and- white.

The military has an interest in blaming others for what is going wrong in Indonesia, because a large number of Indonesians are blaming them. The reputation of the military, the much vaunted people's army which fought the independence war against the Dutch with high popular support, is at an all-time low.

This week the Indonesian news magazine Tempo published a poll, which sampled opinion from a diverse and representative section of the population, on the army's standing. The results are devastating for Wiranto.

They reveal that Indonesians want major reform to the army's current pervasive role in the community, business and government. And far from buying the line that the army is important to the stability of the nation, many respondents think it is part of the problem. Since the earliest days of the republic the army has played a role in politics and business, at first from necessity, but later because it gave the military a strong power base. And the business role gave ready access to funds which enhanced both the army budget and the personal fortunes of its officers.

But the Tempo poll found that 70 per cent of people are opposed to the army's dwifungsi, or dual function, in political affairs as well as its core function of maintaining security. It also found that 66 per cent oppose the system which automatically awards the army seats in the national and provincial parliaments.

And 61 per cent of people say they want the army to "return to the barracks", while 80 per cent say they are worried by the army's close "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" relations with businesses.

The army is also not convincing people that it is successful at its primary role of guarding the security and stability of the nation. The poll asked respondents whether the army is the solution or part of the problem in three of Indonesia's current trouble spots. In each case, more think it is part of the problem: in Aceh (where independence sentiment runs high) by a 57 per cent to 9 per cent margin; in East Timor by a 42 per cent to 18 per cent margin; and in violence-wracked Ambon by a 34 per cent to 20 per cent margin.

The poll does not test the popularity of Wiranto himself. But his move to force through a security law in the dying days of the old Parliament, which updated his emergency powers, caused huge protests last month. Yesterday students burned him in effigy in the Javanese city of Bandung.

At the moment, with Indonesia's highest Parliament about to choose a new president, Wiranto has huge political influence; his block of votes may be decisive in the October 20 presidential vote.

This week he has proved that his parliamentary members are cohesive and opposition contender Megawati Soekarnoputri, who badly needs support, may be forced to turn to him and even offer him the vice-presidency in order to win. If he gets the job, it is likely to spark major demonstrations in many Indonesian cities.

But Wiranto faces numerous other problems. The United Nations will inquire into the army's human rights abuses in East Timor and, if it eventually establishes an investigative tribunal, then army officers, and potentially even Wiranto himself, face being branded criminals and liable to arrest of they leave the country.

A long-time army foe, Amien Rais, was this week elected chairman of the highest national Parliament, the People's Consultative Assembly, which will be amending the constitution during the coming year. He may not be sympathetic to preserving army privileges.

In a speech on Monday, Wiranto said that the army had already recognised problems with its dual function which had "already been corrected at a fundamental level".

But millions of Indonesians don't agree and they are unlikely to blame the man in the black dinner suit. More likely they will blame the General.

Subdued birthday for tainted military

Vaudine England -- Indonesia's military plans a simple celebration of its 54th birthday today, but is paying little heed to growing unpopularity at home and abroad.

Last year's Army Day involved intricate performances by a dazzling array of marching bands, including one group of drummers dressed as frogmen complete with flippers.

This year, several Western ambassadors, after checking back with their home offices, have chosen not to attend the events laid on by a military now under investigation by the United Nations for alleged crimes against humanity.

Today's ceremonies, to be held at the imposing Cilangkap military headquarters, include an evening of karaoke where the fabled singing voice of armed forces commander General Wiranto may once more feature.

"It's important to the army," said military analyst Arbi Sanit of Army Day. "But it's not important to the people of Indonesia at all."

This point may be one which the military has missed, as recent events have shown how far removed the military has become from the people it is pledged to protect.

Less than two weeks ago, a combination of students, local residents, office workers and unemployed youths engaged in fierce battles against troops on the city's main thoroughfares, risking their lives in order to vent their contempt and loathing for the men in uniform.

Less than two days ago, in the country's highest constitutional body, the Peoples' Consultative Assembly, the military establishment's candidate for speaker won just 41 votes from the 700-seat body.

"Considering they were given 38 seats anyway, that's a bad performance," said a political analyst. "It means they only gathered three seats from the claimed extra dozens they were supposed to be able to influence."

US still training Kopassus killers

Terry J. Allen, Vermont -- Quietly tucked away in the hills of Vermont, Norwich University, the only private military college in the country, has continued to educate and train future members of the Indonesian army, even as President Clinton has effectively frozen all relations with that country's military in the wake of the violence in East Timor.

According to Norwich records, 11 of the school's current crop of 13 Indonesian undergraduates list their billing address as the Jakarta headquarters of Kopassus, the Army's elite special forces.

"Kopassus played an especially brutal role in East Timor," Sidney Jones of Human Rights Watch said. "They were unquestionably the most feared, most hated, and most abusive of all Indonesian units in East Timor."

The US government blocked Indonesians from programs at federally funded military institutions such as West Point, citing human rights concerns. But Norwich, a private institution, has continued with its cooperative program, which brings in about $20,000 annually in tuition and fees for each student.

According to Norwich spokesman Richard Greene, the Indonesian students in the two-year-old cooperative program were chosen and paid for by the Indonesian Embassy in Washington with funds wired "by order of the military attache." The undergrads, ostensibly civilians, are obligated to serve 10 years in the Indonesian army after graduation.

Thirteen of them are enrolled in Norwich's Army ROTC program, where they take the standard course that includes weapons training, intelligence gathering, field training, and tactics, as well as military ethics.

"The curriculum is dictated from US Army Cadet Command," said Captain Mike Lefebvre, who teaches ROTC at Norwich. ROTC instructors are active duty Army officers chosen by the Pentagon. "The training of these foreign students [at Norwich] came about from an agreement made between university and the US Army," Lefebvre said.

Ten graduate students, who returned to service in Indonesia in 1999 after completing master's degrees in military science and diplomacy, have served as active duty officers.

The worst violence in East Timor erupted after the island voted for independence from Indonesia on August 30. Pro-Jakarta militia backed by, and often part of, the Indonesian army killed hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians. Another 300,000 either fled the violence or were forcibly repopulated to various islands in the Indonesian archipelago.

At least four of the Norwich graduate students served in East Timor around the time of the referendum. According to an August report from Norwich President Thomas W. Schneider, the four were "in East Timor serving under the United Nations flag." The Indonesians, however, could not have been a part of a UN mission, according to the United Nations. "There is no room for confusion," said Manuel de Almeida e Silva, deputy spokesman for secretary-general of the UN.

Some Norwich faculty oppose the university program, including one member who quit in protest in late 1997. "When I resigned my teaching position at Norwich, I believed they were profoundly misguided. I am very sorry my predictions were true," said James Chapados, referring to the service of the four Norwich graduates in East Timor.

Schneider said he has no plans to end the program and thinks that it performs a valuable service. The curriculum, he said, includes a heavy dose of military ethics.

"We are not claiming that [Norwich graduates] will behave humanely when they go back, but what we do is talk about human rights, civil rights, and give them a new way of thinking," he said. "We would take Communist students from Red China. What better way to teach them that their system is screwed up?"

The Indonesian students now at Norwich did not want to speak with the media, according to Greene.

The Norwich-Indonesia program was set up after a visit to Jakarta by Norwich officials who met with Major General Zacky Anwar Makarim and General A.M. Hendropriyono. The generals, who have been implicated in serious human rights abuses by Human Rights Watch and have been members of Kopassus, visited the Norwich campus in fall and winter 1997.

Zacky, as the general is more commonly known, had been head of BIA Indonesia's national intelligence body until January and spent a large part of his career in Kopassus, according to Jane's Intelligence Review, a British military journal. One of the country's most experienced covert operatives, he is generally believed to have helped set up and organize the militias in each of East Timor's 13 districts.

Zacky was in charge of Indonesian army operations in East Timor. After meeting with him in Dili in September, Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, called for the general's resignation. "He was very hostile toward the referendum," said an aide to Harkin. "His troops intimidated people and tried to stop them from going to vote; he was working with the militias."

The other officer, Hendropriyono, is nicknamed "The Butcher of Lampung," according to Human Rights Watch. In 1989, he commanded troops that opened fire on a Muslim school in Lampung province and massacred an estimated 100 people.

Formerly an officer in Kopassus and chief of the Jakarta Military Command, Hendropriyono was minister for transmigration and resettlement until Sept. 27.

In that capacity, he oversaw the establishment of camps and proposed resettlement of some 200,000 East Timorese refugees to various Indonesian islands.

Schneider said he did not know the generals' backgrounds or that the students' billing address was Kopassus. But, he said, that information would not have deterred him from accepting the young men. Others might find the links more troubling.

Vermont's Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who has been particularly vociferous in condemning Indonesian repression, sponsored legislation passed in 1998 that prohibits assistance or military training to units implicated in human rights abuses. The ban includes some Kopassus units, Leahy aide Tim Rieser said.

After the postreferendum violence, the United States also stopped all military cooperation, training, assistance, and commercial arms sales and pushed the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to suspend loans to Indonesia.

With Norwich receiving federal funds in the form of financial aid and the Indonesian students receiving military training from US Army officers through ROTC, the program could be in conflict with US government policy. "One could argue," Rieser said, "that the US government is subsidizing the training of future Indonesian soldiers." The Norwich program, "if not strictly illegal," he said, "may be inconsistent with President Clinton's order ending cooperation with the Indonesian military."