• Militia intimidation blocks return of refugees - IOM
• Ousting dark forces behind West Timor militia - The Australian
• Angry Timorese refugees attack assembly building - Indonesian Observer
• Reshaped CNRT sets course for move to independence - Sydney Morning Herald
• Joy and sadness as thousands celebrate year of independence - South China Morning Post
• East Timor guerrillas now a military force - Associated Press
• Falintil may take on militia, UN warned - Sydney Morning Herald
• Terms of engagement - The Age
• Hello Mister: meet Timor's fast-money men - Australian Finanical Review
• East Timor: Anger rises at UN failure to rebuild - Green Left Weekly
• East Timor: Transition still painful - Green Left Weekly

• Megawati losing power to economic czar - Straits Times
• Indonesia: choosing sides - Far Eastern Economic Review

• Medan rocked by two bomb blasts, no casualties - Jakarta Post
• Hundreds of villagers flee North Luwu regency mayhem - Jakarta Post

• Jakarta ups ante on GAM to end violence - Indonesian Observer
• Ineffective truce with Aceh rebels extended - South China Morning Post

• Indonesian appeals for Australian union aid - Green Left Weekly

• Rights group says serious obstacles to justice for Timor suspects - Agence France-Presse
• The exigencies of indicting a general - Straits Times
• Jakarta names generals in East Timor inquiry - Reuters
• Activists condemn Timor suspects list, UN expects more names - Agence France-Presse
• Men to fear presided over descent into chaos - South China Morning Post
• Nineteen suspects named over bloodbath - South China Morning Post
• Indonesian land rights activists tell of abduction - Agence France-Presse
• Experts differ on Soeharto's trial - Jakarta Post
• Suharto a no-show as doctors declare him too ill for trial - New York Times
• Indonesia's ex-president told to face court or else - Agence France-Presse
• Scavengers appeal to Human Rights Commission for justice - Detik
• Trial of former president Suharto: historic event or flop - Agence France-Presse

• Seven injured in FPI attack on Tebet cafes, bars - Jakarta Post
• Rail fare hikes burden poor - Detik
• Journalist bashing leads to boycot of police - Detik
• Suharto's funds: where money came from, where they went - Kyodo News
• For Indonesia, right or wrong - South China Morning Post
• One killed, six injured in Bali riot - Indonesian Observer

• Riau forests plundered with official backing - Detik

• Government not seeking major changes in reform program - Jakarta Post
• IMF warns public debt could derail economic recovery - Agence France-Presse
• RI to form agency to speed up privatization - Reuters

Students protest against fuel price increases

Jakarta -- Dozens of students in Lampung province took to the streets yesterday to protest against a government plan to increase fuel prices and a rise in public transport fares, reports said.

They gathered at a main intersection in the provincial capital, Bandar Lampung, causing traffic jams, the state Antara news agency said.

They said in a statement that the rise in intercity transport fares, effective yesterday, and the planned fuel price hikes would cause more suffering for the people, who were struggling to emerge from the economic crisis. They also urged the government to provide more land for farmers, increase workers' salaries and provide affordable education.

Coordinating Minister for Economy Rizal Ramli announced on Thursday that the government would raise fuel prices next month. Initial price rises were planned for April 1, but were postponed in the face of massive opposition.

Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak said the price increase could not be delayed, and added that the timing was right, both socio-politically and economically.

Students call Suharto trial a farce, take to the streets

Jakarta -- Student reformists who helped topple former Indonesian president Suharto two years ago reacted with anger and disgust Thursday at his failure to show up at the start of his corruption trial.

"This is a show trial," yelled one student leader, to the cheers of the 200 protestors who had gathered outside the iron gates of the ministry building where the trial opened with the defendant's chair empty. "We will continue to push for a trial by the people ... not like the trial we saw today, which is a farce," said a spokesman for the City Forum, an umbrella student group.

Some 100 City Forum protestors marched along Jakarta's main boulevard following the postponement of the trial, stopping to rally outside buildings and a five-star hotel they said were symbols of Suharto's ill-gotten wealth.

Protest leader Adian said they were enacting a "people's seizure of Suharto's assets and sources of wealth." The students would continue to target buildings "symblic of Suharto's power" in the coming days when they would "take to the streets in huge numbers," he added.

President Abdurrahman Wahid's promised pardon of the former dictator, should he ever be tried and found guilty, also came in for harsh condemnation outside the trial venue.

"We are extremely worried and pessimistic, especially as the man who sits as president in this country has promised to pardon Suharto," shouted one student leader outside the trial venue. "Please put on a real trial, not a soap opera," yelled another, as unseasonal heavy rain drenched the increasingly angry crowd of students, but failed to drive them away. "Because if there's no real trial, the people will take justice into their own hands," he threatened.

It was Indonesia's students who helped bring the seemingly invincible Suharto to his knees in May 1998 with mass street protests and a non-stop sit-in of parliament. Some of the same students were outside the court Thursday in the hope of seeing the process they began brought to its climax.

But many of them said they were beginning to be reminded of the former tyrant's invincibility. "This shows Suharto is still untouchable," said Dede, who carried a banner that read "Try Suharto, Sick or Not!"

Near him, Ria, another veteran of the 1998 protests, said she was "extremely disappointed" at the judge's decision to postpone the trial for another two weeks until September 14. "I was full of optimism back then that Suharto would be brought to trial," she told AFP. "I was even more optimistic when Gus Dur came to power," she said using President Wahid's nickname. "But now we are beginning to see the reality, that the court system is full of Suharto's people."

The anti-Suharto protesters outside the court came from three groups: the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Union, the Forum to Fight for the Supremacy of the Law, and the Students and People Love Reform Forum.

"This trial is staged," Ria said in disgust on learning it had been postponed. "Staged" is what a small group of about 50 pro- Suharto protestors also branded the trial.

The pro-Suharto group turned up outside the gates of the ministry in a dozen vans, and distributed leaflets reading: "Reject the trial of Suharto, try the present corruptors." "The Suharto trial is staged by the political elite who are in power now, who pretend to be reformist but are in fact just greedy for power," it said. The leaflets also called for a halt to investigations into power holders from the past.

The sympathies of the thousands of onlookers peering through the iron bars which surround the spacious ministry grounds were divided towards the man who liked to be called the "father" of Indonesia's development.

"I feel sorry for him, he's sick and old," said 59-year-old Muhammed, a vegetable seller who had travelled two hours by train from his home to witness the proceedings. However Sardi, 50, had limited pity. "For his illness, I pity him, but for all the things he's done wrong, I have no pity," he said.

Diplomat flees and four arrested after protest turns ugly

Maryadi/BI & AH Detik, Pontianak -- A student protest at the Malaysian Consulate in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, today, Thursday 31 August 2000, has ended with four students being beaten and arrested.

About twenty students, under the auspices of the West Kalimantan Indonesian Students Front and the Association of Youth and Students for Reform (Gaprema), staged a protest criticising the Malaysian government for shifting boundary poles separating Indonesia and Malaysia. They also condemned the statement by the Malaysian government that all illegal immigrants coming into Malaysia are Indonesian. The protest caused the Malaysian Consul General, Mohamad Nizam Ramli, to flee from his office.

They also criticised the Malaysian Government for allowing its citizens to log timber in Indonesian territory. "The Malaysian government should return all the natural resources they have taken illegally from the Indonesian people," said one of protestors, read from a list of demands. During the protest, three banners were hung on the gate of Malaysian consulate. The banners carried messages like "Malaysians rape Indonesian female laborers", "Border Shifting equals Aggression", "Clarify the Illegal Immigrant statement".

The protesters also demanded that the Malaysian government take a strong action against those who had raped or abused Indonesian laborers and workers. "The Malaysian government is clearly protecting its citizens who have committed these crimes," said Rahmat, one of the spokespeople for the protestors. The protest created considerable a commotion, and the inevitable traffic jam. A staff member from the consulate came out of the compound to give something to a local resident. However, one of the protestors shouted to the local resident not to accept the gift, as it may have been stolen from Indonesia.

Initially, only a few police were present at the area, with reinforcements arriving not long after the protest started. The protestors confronted the police, with the officers retaliating with boots and batons. Four students were arrested in the melee.

The student group had said that police overreacted, and tried to provoke protesters' emotions. The Pontianak Police Chief, Senior Superintendent Suprojo WS, rejected this accusation saying, "The protestors arrested because they resisted officers guarding the Malaysian Consulate."

200 victims of 27 July incident reject Governor

Djoko Tjiptono/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- Around 200 victims of the 27 July incident gathered at Central Jakarta's famous HI Roundabout Wednesday demanding the Jakarta Provincial government reject Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's accountability speech. The demonstrators claim he is responsible for the bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters on 27 July 1996.

When thugs backed by the military raided the PDI headquarters, sparking riots, which claimed at least four lives and possibly 100s of disappearances, Sutiyoso was commander of the Jakarta military district.

Those demonstrating for the Jakarta government to reject him were drawn from several groups including the 27 July Youth Movement, the Family 124 Communication Forum (FKK 124) and the Jakarta Council of Reform Saviors. Arriving on 12 minibuses, they sported red headbands bearing the words "Reject Sutiyoso" and delivered speeches to passersby and motorists.

They argued Sutiyoso should be immediately removed as Jakarta Governor because he had numerous black marks against his name, from corruption and collusion to his direct authority over the operation known simply as the 27 July incident in Indonesia.

They also brought large banners reading "Sutiyoso = Dracula", "Sutiyoso's Hands Covered With Blood" and "DPRD DKI (Jakarta Provincial Government) Must Conduct Open Voting."

They also brought a 50-meter white banner covered with signatures of people who supported the investigation of the 27 July incident. They spread the white banner around this famous roundabout.

Many also carried flags and wore T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) headed by Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri who was the elected leader of the PDI at the time of the raid. The demonstration passed without great incident and only a couple of police officers were seen directing the traffic which ran smoothly.

As widely known, the latest investigation into the 27 July incident is being carried out by a `connectivity team' established the House of Representatives and comprised solely of military of police personnel. Governor Sutiyoso delivered his annual accountability speech in late June and had it rejected narrowly in late July. The Governor was give the opportunity to improve his account of his previous year in office and the members of the legislative have managed to put off passing judgement on it. They'll have to act soon or it will be time for the next accountability speech although perhaps receiving new cars and various other perks recently has been a factor in the drawn out process.

UI students boycott classes

Jakarta -- University of Indonesia (UI) students marked the first day of going back to campus after a long holiday by boycotting classes on Monday, following the university's decision not to cancel a policy on an extra school fee.

At their campus in suburban Depok, east of Jakarta, students could be seen sitting in front of their respective department buildings since morning.

Speeches were made against the policy, which obliges students to pay an extra school fee beside the Rp 510,000 (US$60) tuition fee. The extra fee, which goes into the Education Quality Improvement Fund (DPKP), is Rp 1 million for students in the School of Medicine, School of Engineering and School of Math and Pure Sciences. The fee is Rp 750,000 for students who take social sciences.

Earlier, about 700 students failed to register for classes in protest against the fee. Students also blockaded the gate, preventing cars from entering the campus. Students at the university's other campus on Jl. Salemba, Central Jakarta also boycotted classes.

Earlier, assistant to UI rector for students affairs Umar Mansur said that the extra fee was needed because UI was struggling to cover financial shortages after cuts in government funding.
 

East Timor

Militia intimidation blocks return of refugees

Rising tensions and an increasing number of attacks on foreign aid workers in West Timor reduced the IOM/UNHCR repatriations of East Timorese refugees to a trickle in July and August. In early July, IOM was forced to suspend all return operations from the Kupang area following fighting between the local population and East Timorese refugees. The fighting blocked the main road to Soe, Kefa and Atambua, stopping IOM from transporting 330 personnel to registration sites throughout West Timor.

On the first day of the registration, militia thugs terrorized registration officials in camps in the Belu border district. Despite the promise of increased security from the West Timor authorities, IOM and other international organizations working in Kupang were forced to call off the exercise on the first day.

IOM vehicles providing transport for the registration were stoned and staff were threatened with machetes. After the attempt to register the refugees and in response to militia threats, IOM and UNHCR decided to close their offices in Betun.

IOM's final family reunion scheduled for the Motaain-Batugade border on 29 July was also disrupted by several hundred Aitarak militia, who threatened both IOM staff and refugees trying to attend the event.

An IOM contractor in Atambua was told that his house would be burnt down if he supplied IOM with vehicles to take people to the reunion, and IOM truck drivers planning to transport refugees to the border were threatened with hand grenades.

In mid-August, ahead of Indonesia's 17 August Independence Day holiday, Aitarak militia surrounded IOM's Atambua office, forcing its temporary closure for one week. International staff were re- deployed to Kupang and following similar threats to UNHCR, the UN raised the security rating for Belu district from Phase III to Phase IV. In East Timor, the militia threat also increased in July and August. This led many observers to view the security situation on both sides of the border as worse than at any time during the preceding nine months.

UN Peacekeepers in East Timor reported widespread infiltration of well-armed and well-trained militia in August. In the month before the Independence Day holiday, 12 border shooting incidents were reported and two UN Peacekeepers, a New Zealander and a Nepali, were killed. They were the PKF's first combat fatalities.

International pressure on Indonesia to respect the territorial integrity of East Timor and take action against the militias also increased in August. Donor countries led by the US told the government that unless "they act to disarm and disband the militias, separate armed groups from the refugee population in the camps, provide security for international aid agencies, and conduct a registration of refugees, they risk seriously damaging Indonesia's international reputation." Militia violence against international aid workers in West Timor has been condemned by the Indonesian authorities, but little or no action has been taken, creating an impression that they remain immune from prosecution. In mid-August donors told Indonesia that their support for a government task force charged with clearing the West Timor camps within six months was conditional on security guarantees. At this time, the only route that remained opened for IOM to assist those wishing to return was by sea from Kupang to Dili on the IOM- operated ship the "Patricia Anne Hotung". Despite all these setbacks, IOM remains committed to assisting all East Timorese who wish to return home.

[Chris Lowenstein Lom IOM Information Officer]

Ousting dark forces behind West Timor militia

Don Greenlees, Jakarta -- Western diplomats and senior Indonesian military officers say the pro-Jakarta militias operating in West Timor are still being sponsored by a group of retired and serving generals with links to the ousted Suharto regime.

If true, and there is ample evidence to suggest outside financial assistance to the militias, the task of ensuring East Timor's security against armed marauders will depend more on politics in Jakarta than on the skill of UN peacekeepers. The battle over the fate of the militias appears to be one dimension of a broader contest between President Abdurrahman Wahid and what some analysts term the status quo forces -- those civilians and elements of the armed forces (TNI) who prospered under Suharto and face not only a decline of influence but persecution under Wahid.

Western diplomats have been told by TNI officers that militias based in the crowded refugee camps along the border dividing West and East Timor are receiving money and uniforms from individuals close to former TNI commander General Wiranto. A high-ranking officer recently repeated this allegation to The Australian.

Although the specific allegation is hard to confirm, the likelihood of outside funding is lent credibility by the absence of any visible means of independent support for the militias. Senior UN commanders discount the view TNI, as an institution, is co-operating with the militias, yet leave open the possibility of aid from rogue elements. So far, the UN and foreign governments have expressed the hope that resettlement of the 130,000 people still in the West Timor camps will have the secondary effect of denying the militias a cover for their incursions into East Timor.

Closure of the camps would be a huge step towards curtailing militia activity. But the existence of substantial sources of funding means that it does not necessarily follow that all the militias would be directly put out of business. A well-trained hard core, especially those threatened with prosecution for serious crime, could press on.

This raises some troubling issues. The mandate of the UN peacekeeping force is due to expire when East Timor gains formal independence, about the end of next year. The most likely scenario for the future East Timorese army, based on a recently concluded British study, is a full-time force of 1500 men with another 1500 reservists -- an insufficient number to manage a sustained border campaign.

There is a strong possibility, therefore, that the UN will need to renew the peacekeeping mandate for an indefinite period. Australia's contribution would probably be at least battalion strength. It would mean Australian troops continuing to face militias and Indonesian troops across the border with, of course, a risk of casualties and miscalculations that would have serious consequences for Canberra-Jakarta relations.

Australian soldiers have done a professional job and shown great compassion to the people they have been asked to protect. But there have been some close calls on the border and a long-term mission would obviously extend the risk.

So what can be done by foreign governments to resolve the militia problem? Unfortunately, the options are limited. Ministers in Jakarta have shown a lack of appreciation of the scale of the militia activity. Their education hasn't been assisted by TNI's old habit of disinformation; at one recent briefing Indonesian commanders told their UN counterparts that criminals unconnected to the militias were behind shooting incidents, including the death of New Zealand Private Leonard Manning.

After 12 months of unfulfilled promises, Jakarta takes umbrage at international criticism and still drags its feet over the disarmament of militias and resettling the refugees. For much of that time the diplomatic pressure has been intense. Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab's latest promise is to close the camps within six months. If the deadline passes and the refugees and militias remain, the international community ought to consider adding substance to the diplomatic rhetoric. But the use of punitive measures requires fine judgment.

The answer to the militias is likely to be determined by the political game being played between Wahid and his opponents. One theory offered by diplomats sees various instances of unrest across the archipelago, including sponsorship of the militias, as a warning to Wahid, in the middle of human rights and corruption investigations, not to push his reforms too far.

In this power struggle, Wahid needs foreign support. Isolating him diplomatically could strengthen those who oppose a more just and democratic Indonesia.

Angry Timorese refugees attack assembly building

Jakarta -- A peaceful demonstration by East Timorese refugees to commemorate the first anniversary of East Timor's secession from Indonesia turned brutal yesterday, when they attacked East Nusa Tenggara's provincial legislative building.

The angry refugees destroyed the building's facade and back gates, and smashed its glass windows as legislators were convening. The parliamentarians later fled the attacked building to avoid violence against them. At least three cars belonging to legislators were destroyed in the incident.

Antara reported from Kupang, West Timor, that the demonstrators also beat journalist, James Ratu, who works for the East Nusa Tenggara Express and confiscated a camera from Andro, Ratu's colleague. Both Ratu and Andro sustained wounds after they were beaten by demonstrators. The demonstrators also beat journalist, Jamris Fortuna, of the Suara Timor daily and legislator, Yoseph Yoris.

The flare-up was brought under control after pro-Jakarta militia leader Eurico Guterres and other pro-integration fighters arrived at the site. "We came here to hold a peaceful rally, to seek sympathy from the country but not in such a violent way," shouted Mario Vieira, spokesman for Uni Timor Aswain (UNTAS).

Guterres said the peaceful rally turned violent after one of the legislators accused the pro-integrationists of disturbing the peace. "We are not responsible for the attack on the legislative building. The blame must be put on former president B.J. Habibie, who offered an independence option which has led us to take refuge for one year now," he said.

The demonstrators later burned a picture of Habibie in front of East Nusa Tenggara (West Timor) Governor Piet Tallo, and local police chief, Brig. Gen. John Lalo.

Demonstrators hailed from various refugee camps in Atambua, Kefamenanu, Soe and Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province where pro-Jakarta have often blamed for violence and intimidation against the last 130 refugees.

Dozens of motorcycles and cars formed a convoy which traveled through the city's main roads and on to the legislative building. The demonstrators led by Guterres dispersed after conveying their demands to the legislators. Yesterday was the first anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence from Indonesia.

Reshaped CNRT sets course for move to independence

Mark Dodd, Dili -- After a 24-hour session, East Timor's main independence umbrella group has reaffirmed support for Mr Xanana Gusmao as its leader and approved measures aimed at a smooth transition to independence.

A seven-member commission will oversee the running of the group, to be known as the National Council of Timorese Resistance/ National Congress. The CNRT's new composition is seen as a significant dilution of the influence of Fretilin, East Timor's best known and formerly most prominent political party.

Delegates voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Mr Gusmao as president and the veteran independence leaders Mr Jose Ramos Horta and Mr Mario Carrascalao as vice-presidents.

There had been confusion on Sunday, when Mr Gusmao and Mr Ramos Horta announced their resignations. However, their decision was revoked within hours, and is being seen as a tactic to ensure unity and reform of the CNRT in the face of opposition by elements of Fretilin.

The congress, which opened on August 21 and ended early yesterday, adopted Portuguese as the official language and Tetum as the national language; called for a human rights bill; and endorsed policy guidelines for a future elected government. It also set up a reconciliation commission to bridge differences between political factions and investigate past political killings.

There was a focus on transparency and good governance, with a decision that the CNRT's accounts be published annually. The new body will be responsible for East Timorese affairs until a parliament is elected next year. It will shape policy issues for debate in the 33-member National Council, which shares power with the United Nations transitional administration.

Overnight, delegates laboured over the recommendations of four working parties on CNRT reform, the transitional process, national security and foreign relations, and good governance and democracy-building. By the leadership vote at 6am many delegates were slumped exhausted in their seats.

"With the new organisation of the CNRT we can determine our future and move on," Mr Gusmao told delegates. "We've started to witness a new beginning."

Joy and sadness as thousands celebrate year of independence

Joanna Jolly, Dili -- On a day tinged with sadness and joy, thousands of East Timorese yesterday celebrated the first anniversary of their independence from often brutal colonial rule by Indonesia.

In memorial services, speeches and concerts, the East Timorese paid tribute to the thousands who died during 24 years of Indonesian occupation. They especially remembered the sacrifice of those who lost their lives after last year's independence vote, which was followed by a campaign of violence and destruction orchestrated by pro-Indonesian militias and the Indonesian military.

"We are here today at the resting place of those who gave their lives so East Timor can be free," Nobel peace laureate and Vice- President of the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT) Jose Ramos-Horta said at the Santa Cruz cemetery in East Timor's capital, Dili.

"Those who survive have to bear the burden of responsibility for building a better East Timor." On August 30 last year, the East Timorese queued to place their vote in the ballot to decide between continuing rule by Jakarta or independence.

After the overwhelming result in favour of independence was announced a few days later, hundreds were killed and more than 80 per cent of the region was ravaged as militias and the Indonesian military pulled out. East Timor is now under the administration of the United Nations, which hopes to hand over to an East Timorese government in a year.

In Dili, the day began with a cathedral mass held by Bishop Carlos Belo and attended by 1,500 worshippers, including the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and CNRT President Xanana Gusmao.

As hundreds of East Timorese who could not find seats stood patiently outside in the blazing sun, Bishop Belo urged the people to work together for the future. "We won a victory, I hope people will not repeat the injustices of the past," he said. Mass was followed by wreath-laying ceremonies at the Santa Cruz cemetery, the scene of a brutal massacre by Indonesian troops in 1991.

At midday, a crowd of 10,000 East Timorese gathered in front of the former governor's office, now the seat of the UN administration, to hear speeches from leaders and dignitaries. Messages of goodwill were read out by political representatives from Australia, the United States and China. "Today I salute the courage of every East Timorese citizen and the memories of those brave East Timorese men and women who perished so that you could have your freedom," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement read by Mr de Mello.

Earlier in the morning, delegates at the CNRT congress voted to retain popular former guerilla leader Mr Gusmao -- who was captured and incarcerated by the Indonesians in 1992 -- as president until independent elections next year.

Emotions among the crowd were mixed. Although there was joy at finally achieving independence, there was sorrow at the high price that was paid. "I feel emotional to be here," said Mica Barreto, 28, an East Timorese who now works for the UN administration. "Last year we knew we would get our freedom, but we could not express it openly. Now I am happy to celebrate, though I know not all East Timorese had the chance to be free."

East Timor guerrillas now a military force

Heather Paterson, Aileu -- They fought a desperate jungle war against Indonesia's occupation for a quarter of a century. Now, one year after East Timor broke free, they have no place to go and nothing to do.

In the village of Aileu, 12 miles southwest of East Timor's capital Dili, about 800 guerrillas of the rebel group Falintil lounge around a dusty parade ground and smoke cigarettes. Half a dozen in faded uniforms, automatic rifles slung over their backs, tinker with a dilapidated army truck. Others tend vegetable patches or do other chores. A few chat with UN officials assigned to keep an eye on them.

It's very different from their days of daring cat-and-mouse combat against the vastly superior Indonesian army. Outnumbered and outgunned, Falintil used its knowledge of the land and the near-universal support of the population to survive repeated Indonesian offensives. "Now we are bored and feel useless," said Koli Ati, a guerrilla commander.

But this could change soon. As East Timor prepares for statehood during the next 18 months, Falintil -- a Portuguese acronym for the Armed Forces of the National Liberation of East Timor -- is to be transformed from a ragtag rebel group into the nucleus of a new and professional defense force, UN officials said. Once UN peacekeepers begin pulling out, the new army will assume responsibility for the fledgling nation's security.

On Wednesday, Falintil fighters will be feted as heroes when East Timor's 600,000 people mark the first anniversary of a UN- sponsored referendum that ended 24 years of Indonesian rule.

That independence vote sparked an orgy of violence by militias backed by the Indonesian military, ending only with the entry of international peacekeepers. With elements of the Indonesian army still unreconciled to the loss of the territory, Falintil may see renewed combat soon.

As a first step, some Falintil fighters are to be recruited by the UN force as scouts along East Timor's troubled border with Indonesian-controlled West Timor, the scene of a spate of recent clashes between the peacekeepers and anti-independence militiamen.

On Tuesday, Australian peacekeepers exchanged gunfire with two militiamen near the border. No one was injured in the clash and the militiamen escaped, peacekeeping spokesman Col. Brynar Nymo said.

"Falintil knows the terrain better than anyone else, certainly better than our troops," said East Timor's UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello. "Falintil will be the backbone. They will be the core of the new East Timor defense force," he said. "They will have a key role, a crucial role to play in defending this country."

Some independence leaders want the guerrillas to do more. Independence leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has reportedly suggested that his men conduct raids into Indonesian West Timor to root out militia base camps there -- an option De Mello rules out.

"We should not be using the same tactics as thugs and criminals," he said. "Violating international borders is contrary to international law." During and after the August 1999 referendum, Falintil kept its promise to the United Nations to remain in its camps. But it has since refused several UN requests to disarm.

After the former colonial ruler Portugal left East Timor, Indonesia invaded in 1975, prompting the Falintil guerrilla war. The guerrillas used their superior military training to run rings around Indonesia's US-trained special forces, called Kopassus, that tried to hunt them down. Human rights groups claim as many as 200,000 people, mostly civilians, died in the first years after the invasion.

UN officers believe rogue elements of Kopassus are still active in West Timor, training and arming militia gangs that are now crossing the border to destabilize East Timor.

On Tuesday, peacekeepers deployed reinforcements to the central highlands in an attempt to corner a gang of militiamen thought to be hiding out in the area.

Falintil's current commander, Taur Matan Ruak, said all this proves a strong East Timorese force is necessary to deter aggression. "We need only look around us and see on our doorstep what is happening," he said. "Our border is being threatened, and some militiamen have come back and they are causing deep concerns."

Falintil may take on militia, UN warned

Mark Dodd, Dili -- East Timor independence leaders have accused the United Nations of failing to uphold its mandate to provide security for the country in the face of cross-border attacks by pro-Indonesian militia.

Growing frustration at the UN's perceived failings have prompted Mr Jose Ramos Horta to warn that East Timorese Falintil guerillas could seek to track down and engage the militia.

However, he denied reports that the independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao had raised the possibility of attacking militia in their bases in Indonesian West Timor. Australian peacekeepers operating in rugged hill country north-east of the border town of Maliana yesterday exchanged fire with a group of militia, an Australian UN officer, Captain Dan Hurren, said by telephone from south- western Suai. There were no Australian casualties. Peacekeepers were last night attempting to track down the group, Captain Hurren said.

The latest violence came on the eve of the first anniversary of East Timor's vote for independence. UN peacekeepers are on heightened alert, fearing an upsurge in attacks to coincide with today's anniversary. There have been at least six armed clashes between UN forces and militias in the past nine weeks.

In Dili, heavily armed Portuguese riot police have set up random road blocks, checking vehicles and verifying identity papers to prevent any violence from marring anniversary celebrations.

Mr Ramos Horta said UN peacekeepers were not being aggressive enough to deter the militia. Portuguese peacekeepers had failed to secure their area of responsibility, allowing militia activity to go unchecked.

There was growing dissatisfaction with their failure to crack down on militia operating in the territory's central sector, he said. There were "frustratingly slow reactions" from the UN in approving an active military role for Falintil "in terms of defending our own country while there are continuing militia threats", he said.

He insisted the militia were "completely and entirely funded, and supported" by the Indonesian military. "Either New York is blind or they don't read any newspapers when the diplomats in Jakarta now all unanimously say that the Indonesians are supporting them. "We are waiting for the Security Council to take additional action to defend this country. That is supposed to be their mandate."

Yesterday UN commanders rushed reinforcements by helicopter to fill a security gap in the south of the territory. Seventy Portuguese troops were sent to Same, where they would distribute leaflets reassuring locals of their continued support, a UN military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Brynjar Nymo, said.

The move follows talks on Sunday between the head of the UN mission in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, and ambassadors, including Portugal's Mr Pedro Moitinho, over Mr Ramos Horta's and Mr Gusmao's complaints of security lapses.

In a second meeting with ambassadors on Monday, reliable sources said Mr Vieira de Mello expressed concern at the peacekeeping force deployment, singling out the Portuguese contingent for criticism.

In the past two months up to 150 militia have crossed through Australian and New Zealand sectors along the border and have now fanned out into southern and central areas, sparsely defended by the Portuguese. Two peacekeepers have died in clashes with the militia. UN military commanders say their forces are under strength to seal the border, which stretches 172 kilometres through rugged, mountainous country.

The Falintil army, the former independence resistance force, is living in poor conditions in a UN- designated cantonment at Aileu, south of Dili. Mr Horta said that while he expected Falintil to maintain discipline, some units could break out and engage the militia if incursions persisted.

"Our Falintil soldiers ... are getting very frustrated and angry, and it would be very difficult, if this situation continues to evolve like this, to prevent a few of them from sneaking out -- freelancing and hunting down the militia on their own." While the militia were not a threat to overall security, he said, "after 24 years many of our people are still living in fear in some of these areas, and that does not make us happy".

UN peacekeepers were handicapped by strict rules of engagement laid down by UN headquarters, he said. Policymakers had choked the peacekeeping force with unrealistic rules of engagement that favoured the militia. He called on the UN to allow more liberal rules of engagement to give an active role to Falintil and allow peacekeeping field commanders independence to act without "waiting for a cable from New York to advise them".

Terms of engagement

Paul Daley -- A small group of Australian politicians and military chiefs still shudder when they recollect receiving a top-secret report from the Australian Defence Intelligence Organisation on September 28 last year -- just eight days after the first of 5000 Australian troops led InterFET into East Timor under a United Nations mandate at Indonesia's invitation.

Marked "SECRET AUSTEO" (Australian Eyes Only), the document outlined the fears of then Indonesian President B.J.Habibie that his armed forces chief General Wiranto was preparing to mount a coup.

The key implication of the document was clear: Wiranto would oppose InterFET's deployment into what was still Indonesian territory, thus heightening the danger of large-scale conflict between Indonesian troops and Australian personnel. For the first time since the 1963-1966 Malaysian confrontation, when Australian troops killed 17 Indonesian troops, Australia's most senior military officials were privately canvassing the possibility of war with Indonesia.

"By that stage we had about 2000 personnel there and TNI [the Indonesian military] were still in large numbers, particularly around Dili," one defence official explains. "Things between TNI and InterFET were already hugely tense -- much more volatile than the public ever knew. If this scenario happened and Wiranto took over, we expected the bodybags to be used in numbers."

It was not until nine months later that InterFET commander Peter Cosgrove gave any indication of just how tense things had been in East Timor in those first few days.

In June (in a speech carried on the Opinion page, 21/6) General Cosgrove recounted how a 22-year-old Australian lieutenant held his nerve as his 30-member platoon prepared for possible battle with a big group of Indonesian soldiers at a Dili roadblock. Although the Australians were badly outnumbered by the 60-truck convoy of Indonesians, Cosgrove said, the Australians made it clear they were prepared to shoot if the Indonesians continued to advance.

"Arguably the future of Australian-Indonesian relations may have been determined by the professionalism of that young officer and his small team at that control point in Dili on September 22 last year," he said.

This incident, it seems, was one of dozens of unreported stand- offs between Australian and Indonesian troops throughout Dili in the early days of the InterFET deployment.

Late last year an Australian officer told me about a similar stand-off in a street near Dili's wharf. "We'd told the TNI to clear out of the area and they told us this was their country and they weren't going anywhere," the soldier said. "When I told them again to leave, one of them pointed his rifle at my head. When I did the same to him, another TNI also pointed his weapon at me. One of my mates then pointed his weapon, and so on until there's perhaps 25 Australians and TNI all with weapons pointed basically at point-blank.

"This went on maybe 20 minutes and the Indonesian were screaming at us to get out of their country, swearing and saying we were all going to die. One of them said to me: `I'm going to send you home dead.' I said: `If I die, then you're all coming with me."'

After a tense stand-off, the Indonesians moved on. Over coming days and weeks there were more such run-ins between TNI members and Australians attached to InterFET. "Our boys were keyed up, primed for combat with militia when they landed," a senior Australian defence figure says. "But I can't put it down to much more than luck that neither we nor the Indonesians lost any in those first weeks."

From Australia's point of view, it was also hugely fortuitous that Habibie stood down before Wiranto could challenge him. Despite the high level of training given to the Australian troops who were first into East Timor last September, luck was a factor behind InterFET's success.

In the 12 months leading up to InterFET's deployment on September 20, Australia had never put more resources into spying on the Indonesian military. Using its intercept station at Shoal Bay in the Northern Territory, one of the Collins-class submarines and an elaborate human intelligence network, Australia's Defence Signals Directorate intercepted thousands of mobile telephone calls, e-mails and Indonesian military and diplomatic cables from Java, Bali, West Timor and East Timor.

The intercepts recorded conversations between TNI commanders and East Timorese militia leaders that made it clear that if the August 30 ballot rejected Indonesia's autonomy proposal, the militias -- with the help of TNI -- would unleash a campaign of terror and murder against the East Timorese.

Beyond that, the Australian Defence Intelligence Organisation gained detailed knowledge of militia numbers, their armories, rations and ammunition supplies. Thanks to satellite imagery (some of it commercially obtained) and human intelligence, Australian Defence Force specialists were also able to map the exact locations -- and, indeed, the layout -- of key militia and TNI stations in and around Dili.

In the days before the InterFET landing at Dili's Comoro Airport and at Dili Harbor, surveillance and intelligence activities increased dramatically. A Collins-class submarine was involved in the activities, which included electronic eavesdropping close to the coast of East Timor.

Despite Indonesia's allegations that Australia deployed special forces troops in East Timor before its agreement to allow an international force to enter, top-level intelligence sources insist this was not the case. They maintain that Australia's "intelligence sweep" was so extensive that the use of special forces before the official InterFET deployment was an "unnecessary risk".

That is not to say that Australia did not have a range of covert military and civilian intelligence specialists on the ground before InterFET landed. "The use of ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) was extensive and very, very successful. There were also others but there were no special forces ... That was seen as an unnecessary risk for arguably a small return," a source explains.

"At a time when the world was trying to get Indonesia to allow the force (InterFET) in, can you imagine the reaction if there was contact [a firefight] between the SAS [Special Air Service] and TNI? There was an assessment made that it just wasn't worth that risk."

Regardless of whether Australia's diplomatic responses matched the uniformly high quality of its intelligence gathering, Australia's spies are claiming their pre-InterFET operations as a remarkable success.

The Australian military, which by mid-1999 had bolstered the Darwin-based First Brigade and refined Queensland's Third Brigade, much to Indonesia's chagrin, was trained to carry out such a deployment. In June, 1999, in a massive training exercise in the Northern Territory desert outside Tennant Creek, the First Brigade took part in a peacekeeping scenario -- complete with rival militia -- fashioned tightly around events unfolding in Indonesia and East Timor.

The soldiers might have been highly trained. But there just weren't enough of them. Australia's defence planners and, indeed, a number of senior politicians, were deeply concerned that at the height of Australia's InterFET involvement -- when about 5000 ADF personnel were in East Timor -- Australia was left dangerously exposed.

"If the shit had hit the fan anywhere else in the region -- if we had to evacuate [Australian nationals] or if the PNG border blew up -- we'd have been absolutely stuffed," a military source says. "[John] Howard, [Defence Minister John] Moore and (Foreign Minister John) Downer knew this. We all knew we had to wing it. It was a huge risk."

There was another problem. Australia could muster the personnel to send to East Timor, but faced a serious shortage of equipment. The Americans, who had been unwilling to supply troops, stepped in with body armor and helmets. Some troops bought their own boots and camelpacks. Most found the heavy fatigues they'd been issued were inappropriate for the humid tropical climate.

In the early days of the mission, when tensions between the remaining TNI and InterFET troops were at their height, many soldiers also questioned the extensive use of the Australian Light Armored Vehicle (ASLAV). While the vehicles were fast, some of the gunners, whose turrets were not shielded, and the drivers, whose heads were exposed at the front of the cars, complained they felt exposed as they drove around Dili's darkened streets.

There was, however, an up-side. The troops had come expecting to find thousands of well-armed, angry militiamen. The few they found in Dili's streets -- and in the villages as the troops fanned out -- were neither well-armed nor courageous.

In the 12 hours before InterFET's arrival most had fled over the West Timor border. Twelve months later and still supported by elements of the Indonesian military, however, they show every indication that their fight is just beginning.

Hello Mister: meet Timor's fast-money men

Tim Dodd, Dili -- "When the UN pulls out, the whole system's going to crash," says Mr Kirk MacManus, the manager of Hello Mister, Dili's only Western-style supermarket, which is housed in a building that until recently was a burnt-out shell.

That gives its Australian owners a little over a year to recoup their $500,000 investment and rake in whatever windfall profits they can before East Timor's bubble economy collapses.

So long as the 2,000 or so foreigners -- UN staff, aid workers and diplomats -- remain in town, making money in Dili would seem easy. Most of the foreign contingent enjoy living allowances, on top of salary, of $US100 a day.

But there are major challenges for the frontier entrepreneurs who have flocked to this honey pot in the north. "It's not as easy to do business as we thought it might me," says Mr MacManus, the 34-year-old Canadian who manages Hello Mister for its owner, catering company Catimor.

For one thing, there are no labour laws to deal with wage demands. Even though unemployment is very high, wildcat strikes are becoming increasingly common as the expectations of East Timorese rise and they are forced to deal with UN-induced high inflation. "There's a lot of labour issues," says Mr MacManus. "They [the East Timorese] don't bargain. They just don't turn up one day."

Hello Mister employees about 50 local staff on a base rate of 20,000 Indonesian rupiah (about $4) a day, with performance- linked supplements. It sounds very little but it is more than double what an unskilled East Timorese earned before the UN arrived. But disgruntled employees see the UN's pay scale, which awards base-grade local staff more than 30,000 rupiah a day, as the benchmark.

Then there is the problem of land title. Hello Mister has a temporary lease from the UN, which lasts until next April, but there is no security of tenure. Because departing Indonesians either stole or destroyed all records, there is no certainty of land title. The UN is now trying to sort out the land ownership mess and will set up a tribunal to decide the difficult cases.

Mr MacManus, and other business people, also complain about the 10 per cent sales tax, the alcohol tax and import and export taxes that the UN transitional government has brought in to help fund East Timor's $75 million budget for 2000-01. The UN recently started charging for electricity. Next there is likely to be income tax.

"You can't set a goal. New charges are thrown at you every day. You're supposed to have a business target but you can't," says Mr Victor Rustam, manager of Dili's two-month-old Harvey Norman store.

But these challenges appear somewhat tame to Hello Mister's Mr MacManus. He is a veteran of catering operations in two other UN peacekeeping areas -- Somalia and Cambodia -- where tax was the least of the problems.

In Somalia, he worked for Morris Catering -- owned by Australian businessman David Morris -- which was contracted by the UN to feed its peacekeepers. One of Mr Morris's sons was killed in 1993 after a Somali local was sacked for stealing a loaf of bread. Then in 1995 Mr Morris was held hostage after he failed to pay his Somali suppliers, which he blamed on the failure of the UN to meet its contractual payments to him. Several months later, Mr Morris was assassinated by a Somali gunman.

Hello Mister, through its owner, Catimor, is a direct heir of the Morris Catering operation. It was set up as a partly owned subsidiary of Morris to operate in East Timor -- it also operates one of Dili's UN kitchens -- and then sold to other Australian interests. When it changed hands, Mr MacManus stayed to notch up his third UN peacekeeping campaign.

Hello Mister is just one of dozens of small enterprises that have flocked to East Timor attracted by foreigners with fat wallets. Many are providing accommodation in temporary hotels. When UN employees began to pour into Dili late last year, the only available beds were in a huge slab-sided barge still moored in the harbour called the Hotel Olympia. Also known as the love boat, the ship looks more like a boxed-in sheep carrier.

Brisbane lawyer Mr Mark Plunkett, another veteran of the UN's Cambodian venture where his company ran conflict management training, set up an onshore hotel, Paximus Lodge, in February.

The lodge, which is more like a mining camp, has 81 tiny rooms in demountable units, with toilets and showers in nearby modules. It cost Mr Plunkett and two partners $1.4 million to set up and they have to recover the outlay quickly.

"We've got to get that back before the conclusion of the election," he says, referring to the poll expected next August that will elect East Timor's first government. The election will bring the last major influx of foreigners and after that demand -- at the current tariff of $115 a night -- is sure to tail off. "There are not super profits," Mr Plunkett said.

Occupancy, which was at 100 per cent earlier this year, is already down sharply as other similar ventures open up. Demand has also fallen as UN staff and aid workers find more congenial accommodation in renovated houses rented from East Timorese.

For them, if they are lucky enough to own a dwelling that survived Indonesia's destructive exit last September, the rental market is a windfall. Homes rent for prices ranging from $US500, $US1,000 or even $US1,500 a month. This money, unlike that which goes to foreign ventures, is more likely to stay in the country.

But the shift by foreigners into houses has opened other commercial opportunities. Harvey Norman, part of the chain's Darwin franchise, has opened shop in Dili, offering home furnishings and electrical goods to tenants.

The market, says its manager, Mr Rustam, is UN staff who "move off the love boat into houses". It is a field of opportunity because, after the Indonesian army's looting rampage, houses don't come furnished.

But Harvey Norman is facing competition from the Jape family, East Timorese Chinese who, after fleeing East Timor 25 years ago, are now a dominant force in Darwin homeware retailing. They have franchises for Mitre 10 and Forty Winks among their string of stores.

They have returned to Dili -- where some family members stayed right through Indonesia's rule -- with a warehouse store selling furnishings, home appliances and hardware from a site on the edge of town. It is the only building owned by the Japes in Dili that was left intact by the militia.

The family has also set up a general store in one of the few renovated buildings in Dili's still devastated CBD. It carries a large range of Asian-sourced goods that are more in the price range of the East Timorese.

Manager Mr Tony Jape says his family's businesses are in Dili to stay. "The family has been here right through. This is our home and business and we will continue," he said. Hello Mister and Harvey Norman also want to stay after the UN leaves. Both have plans to change stock lines to offer more to locals at cheaper prices.

East Timor: Anger rises at UN failure to rebuild

Francesca Davis, Dili -- Its 4.45pm and the heat is stifling. There is a crowd of students at the door, smiling at me hopefully. Some have travelled miles on foot, on top of buses and in carts to get here. Word had spread that English courses are being offered at the university. We have had to turn scores away. We only have 25 computers for 500 students.

The walls are blackened from being firebombed by the pro-Jakarta militia last year. There is no glass in the windows and the power goes off regularly. But the students remain determined. Those we have turned away listen and take notes through the windows.

Despite often horrendous living conditions, organisation for a new Timor continues. Roadblocks, army carriers and rumours of a militia presence remind us that the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) conference is taking place just down the road.

Dili is a place of contrasts. Stunning mountains plunging into the sea form the background to a town devastated by fighting. Many buildings have been destroyed and the roads are breaking up.

Massive assistance is needed to rebuild the capital, towns and provinces. Money is desperately needed for the grassroots projects under way, such as those to help widows of Falintil fighters and single mothers. Unfortunately, these projects take second place to the United Nation's construction of a new state amenable to Western interests.

I was informed by an Australian economic consultant for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor that the Timorese were asking for "way too much" of the profits from the Timor Gap oil. He added that wages should be kept in line with wages in Indonesia so East Timor can remain "competitive". Meanwhile unemployment, health and housing remain critical problems.

There is widespread disenchantment with the UN; not enough is being done to help rebuild the country. The dissatisfaction is exacerbated by UN employees' displays of wealth and the racism of many Western workers.

The Hotel Olympia, a massive ship moored in the Dili harbour, is symbolic of the excesses and the growing divide between Timorese and Westerners. It costs around US$200 a night to live there. After 10pm, women as young as 15 go aboard; prostitution rackets are run through the Hotel Olympia's top bar.

"Consultants" are rushing here for the nice cars, air-conditioned houses, free trips to Darwin and Indonesia, and salaries up to four times greater than at home.

Another Australian consultant summed up their cynical attitude when he told me, "Well, you've got to get on the gravy train".

East Timor: Transition still painful

Jon Land -- August 30 is the first anniversary of East Timor's courageous act of self-determination, when, after 24 years of occupation, 78.9% of voters defied concerted Indonesian military and militia attempts to crush support for independence and voted for an end to Indonesian rule.

It's also the first anniversary of the Indonesian military making good on its promise to turn East Timor into a "sea of fire".

In the two weeks following August 30, 1999, up to 290,000 people were forced by military-backed militias across the border into West Timor. A similar number, if not more, fled their towns and villages seeking refuge in East Timor's mountainous interior. An unknown number were murdered, many in massacres in which tens or hundreds were killed at a time.

Whatever property or item of value the Indonesian military and militias could not take with them was burnt or destroyed. The capital, Dili, was all but levelled.

Of those taken to West Timor, groups of suspected independence activists and supporters were separated and disappeared. Daily intimidation and fear remains the lot of the estimated 120,000 refugees still held hostage in militia-controlled camps in West Timor.

The mayhem abated only with the arrival of the United Nations- sanctioned International Force for East Timor (Interfet) on September 20 and the formal withdrawal of Indonesian troops a week later.

UNTAET's mission

When the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) took over on October 25, it was charged with the task of overseeing the transition to full independence.

Specifically, UNTAET's mandate was to establish "an effective administration, assist in the development of civil and social services and to support capacity-building for self-government. It is also empowered to exercise all legislative and executive authority, including the administration of justice."

From the start, UNTAET was confronted with a desperate emergency: meeting the basic requirements, such as food, medicine and shelter, of the hundreds of thousands of dislocated East Timorese. It began rebuilding in circumstances which East Timorese leaders have described as starting "below zero".

East Timor was already chronically underdeveloped prior to the post-ballot destruction. The devastation transformed East Timor from one of the poorest parts of south-east Asia into one of the poorest nations in the world.

As with UNAMET, the United Nations Mission for East Timor charged with running the independence ballot, UNTAET has been underfunded and under-resourced.

It has been plagued by the bureaucratic bungles typical of UN missions and by tension between UNTAET and other multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, over how project funds should be distributed. Many donor nations which have pledged significant aid and funds have been very slow on their promises.

Basic economic and social indicators paint a far from pretty picture.

The per capita income is estimated at around US$210 per year, half the 1996 level. Unemployment is 80-90%. Those East Timorese lucky to have jobs struggle to meet the cost of living, especially in Dili and the larger towns.

Just over 50% of people are under 20; children under 5 make up 13.5% of the total population. Prior to the ballot, the infant mortality rate was approximately 7-9% and deaths of East Timorese mothers during child birth were as high as 8 per 1000. These rates have now increased, due to the lack of facilities and medical staff.

The health situation of the adult population has also worsened. Malaria is endemic throughout the country, with 40 deaths and nearly 62,000 suspected cases reported since January 1. Tuberculosis is a major health problem, with one in 10 East Timorese infected with the disease.

Slow reconstruction

UNTAET has come under fire, both from within the organisation and from Timorese leaders and organisations, for the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of progress on basic social indicators.

When UNTAET and a plethora of international aid organisations arrived in East Timor last year, representatives of East Timorese political organisations and community groups were deeply angered and frustrated by the lack of consultation.

The presence of highly paid international staff and workers in comfortable, air-conditioned offices and vehicles, along with the appearance of foreign-run and -owned businesses amidst the ruins of East Timor, added to the frustration.

The frustration has resulted in several protest actions by East Timorese students and workers. In most cases these have been spontaneous, typically involving stop-work meetings to discuss grievances or passive resistance, such as arriving late or not at all for work. Where the protests have been organised, it has been by radical forces like the Socialist Party of Timor.

Among unemployed youths and students, frustration has also been channelled into violence and gang fights in Dili and other towns. There are indications that some gangs are being used or manipulated by business interests (many Chinese-run businesses have been targeted by gangs, for example).

Some of these tensions and frustrations have eased in recent months. The involvement of East Timorese in structures such as the National Consultative Council and the newly formed cabinet has helped overcome resentment that East Timorese are not directly involved in the transition process.

And while the reconstruction process has been slow to start, most East Timorese are now enjoying better access to health care, shelter and food. In rural districts, where the planting of crops and gardens has been successful, life is getting better.

But the transition has been complicated by the rise in tension between different political and social groups, including within an elite divided over what role it should play in forthcoming elections and what state structures should be developed. So far, UNTAET does not appear to have interfered or overtly favoured one political group or party over another.

Militia destabilising

The other destabilising factor is the continuing threat posed by the militia gangs, both in the border regions and to aid workers and refugees still in West Timor.

There is increasing evidence to suggest that militia attacks on UN soldiers and humanitarian staff in the border regions have the backing of Indonesian territorial units based in West Timor and the special operations unit, Kopassus. Since the start of the year, there have also been more than 100 incidents in which aid workers in West Timor have been attacked or threatened by militia thugs. In August there was no repatriation of refugees (except for one, by ferry) and none are likely to be repatriated before mid-September at the earliest.

The refugees have become a political bargaining chip for the militia gangs and their military masters. While ministers in President Abdurrahman Wahid's cabinet have expressed concern over the fate of the refugees, they have failed to control the officers training and arming the militias.

In a media conference following the August 15 announcement that the West Timor refugee camps would close in three to six months, Indonesian foreign minister Alwi Shihab said that, while it was "possible" the military was supporting the militias, a main factor behind the violence was "bitterness ... out of the past experience and conflict between tribes".

Shihab also acknowledged that legislation, passed by the Indonesian parliament on August 18, will make it almost impossible to try those responsible for mass killings and human rights abuses in East Timor. A clause in the law prevents charging anyone with human rights abuses which took place before the legislation came into affect.

Shihab conceded to reporters on August 21, "The ministry of foreign affairs will find it very difficult to explain the article to the world in the midst of our effort to avoid an international tribunal".

Until now, the rich countries have argued that Indonesia should be given a chance to create the appropriate court in which to try human rights violators.

According to the London-based Indonesian human rights watchdog, Tapol, such an approach has not worked. The new legislation, it said, "reinforces the case for the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal for East Timor without delay."
 

Government/politics

Megawati losing power to economic czar

Susan Sim, Jakarta -- As pep talks go, it was not particularly stirring, but symbolic nonetheless. Work as a solid and compact team; do not be like the previous Cabinet. Your ministries are vital to the nation's economic recovery.

Thus did Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri kick off an impromptu session with her two coordinating czars and five economic ministers almost immediately after swearing them in on Saturday.

But it was not really her meeting. President Abdurrahman Wahid called it and economic czar Rizal Ramli decided who would attend. "The President stressed the importance of the seven ministers in economic recovery. Ibu was supportive," one of those present told The Straits Times. Then President and veep swept out and Mr Rizal took over, laying the rules down for his five ministers.

Messrs Priyadi Praptosuharjo (Finance), Purnomo Yusgiantoro (Mines), Agum Gumelar (Telecommunication), Luhut Panjaitan (Trade and Industry) and Cacuk Sudarijanto (junior minister for economic recovery) will meet him every Monday morning to discuss agenda and priorities.

They will not talk about policy differences to the press. Sensible ground rules, considering how the previous team was seen as disorganised and racked by infighting from day one because ministers had no qualms questioning each other's expertise in public. If the Monday meeting can reach consensus on policy options, is there still a need for a time-consuming weekly Cabinet meeting to be chaired by Ms Megawati every Wednesday?

Or will it suffice for Mr Rizal to report his team's recommendations to her and obtain her endorsement? Ditto with the security, politics and social affairs team chaired by Lt-Gen Susilo Bambang Yudhyuno.

If she wants to stamp her authority on the government, then it would be crucial for the Vice-President to be seen leading regular Cabinet meetings and explaining the decisions to the public later. Yet, Ms Megawati said nothing about how often she wanted to meet the entire Cabinet during Saturday's pep rally, a minister said. Nor is it clear if she is ready to break a lifetime's habit of avoiding press conferences or start indulging in fireside chats with the nation.

By dint of the urgent tasks ahead, force of personality and sure media savvy, real power appears to be shifting towards Mr Rizal. Sure, Ms Megawati has a presidential decree, mandated by the highest legislative body, that makes her chief supervisor, able to "make operational decisions as part of the daily technical tasks of the government and sign decrees containing policies that have been approved by the President".

It is a task-sharing arrangement which plugs an obvious deficiency of the President -- he is blind and has been signing state documents without verifying its contents personally.

Ms Megawati, an elected official who can be made accountable, is now the official co-signatory. But the operating phrase here is "policies that have been approved by the President".

The Vice-President is still not authorised to choose the next military chief, provincial governor or the heads of the country's treasure chests -- Ibra, Bulog -- without the explicit agreement of Mr Abdurrahman. She cannot alone decide if state enterprises will henceforth come under the supervision of Mr Cacuk or report to the other ministries.

Mr Rizal does not have such powers either, but he has the President's ear. Among the first things on his agenda today is whether Mr Cacuk gets to keep his Ibra post and gain the state enterprises to boot.

Chances are that Mr Abdurrahman will go along with whatever Mr Rizal recommends, since he has been the one briefing him on the economy for months now. The economic czar, close as he is to the President, knows how to coddle an unhappy but publicity-shy Vice-President. Some time is what he needs now. But there is not enough to squander.

Indonesia: choosing sides

John McBeth, Jakarta -- The day before Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid announced his new "All-the-President's-Men" cabinet, Golkar party Chairman and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tanjung decided there was nothing to keep him in Jakarta and boarded a plane for the United States to attend to personal and business matters. After all, in the several meetings he had had with Wahid in the preceding days, the president had not once mentioned a cabinet reshuffle, let alone asked for Tanjung's input on ministerial appointments.

It was that way as well with Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle, or PDI-P, which shares the balance of power with Golkar in the 500-seat House of Representatives.

As it turned out, Wahid gave no posts to Golkar. In doing so, he pushed former President Suharto's once all-powerful political vehicle into a uniquely new role in Indonesian politics as the core of a genuine parliamentary opposition.

"What he's effectively done is create a minority government and formalize an opposition," says one political analyst, reflecting the early astonishment over the 26-man line-up.

The new cabinet also shifts a heavy load onto two crucial coordinating ministers, in a move new economic czar Rizal Ramli says will make the cabinet more capable of getting things done. "A lot of them may not be sophisticated, but they are problem- solvers, they are men of action," Ramli said in an interview with the Review. "I think this is a good combination." Ramli says Tanjung phoned him from the US to say his support for the new cabinet would depend on whether it provided "good quality" programmes. But Theo Sambuaga, chairman of Golkar's central executive board, made it clear his party was now in opposition. "We never asked to be considered and now it is more convenient for Golkar to function as the opposition," Sambuaga told the Review, revealing plans to form a shadow cabinet.

For Gus Dur, as the president is known, it was an opportunity to shake himself loose from the unwieldy rainbow coalition foisted on him last October. Appointing loyalists who will do his bidding may well enable him to get the country back on track.

But in insisting on his presidential prerogative, he has left analysts to ponder whether he is refusing to accept the post- Suharto realities of a diminished presidency or has become the definer of a new political landscape of which a credible opposition is an integral part.

Either way, with Wahid's National Awakening Party holding just 51 seats in the House of Representatives, the reshuffle is a bold ploy that has set the scene for another, potentially more dangerous confrontation with parliament -- particularly if the new cabinet fails to deliver.

"There will be no honeymoon period," says Sambuaga, a former manpower minister. "He has to show it will work." The president delivered on his promise to the recent People's Consultative Assembly to give Megawati a bigger role in the day-to-day running of government affairs. But his failure to consult her on the make-up of the cabinet itself so infuriated the vice-president that she refused to attend the initial announcement of the new cabinet on August 23. After directing palace officials to remove her chair from next to the president's, she walked stone-faced to her car.

High-ranking PDI-P members acknowledge that the tensions between Wahid and Megawati are very real. But true to form, Megawati refused to consider turning down her new duties, leaving supporters with little option but to stay the course -- at least for the time being.

Parliament may not be so forgiving. Legislators, including those from Megawati's party, are going ahead with investigations into the president's alleged involvement in two cases of financial improprieties, both of which could lead to impeachment proceedings.

The success of Wahid's revamped cabinet will clearly rest heavily on the new working arrangement between the president, vice- president and the two new coordinating ministers -- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 50, a former three-star general who takes charge of politics and security, and Ramli, 47, another Wahid confidante who has been saddled with the tough job of restoring confidence in the government and its policies, and rescuing Indonesia's struggling economy.

How will it all work? Ramli says his economic ministers will send reports to him each Friday, allowing his staff time to choose the items that need consideration. On Sundays, he and Yudhoyono will meet with Megawati, break for a separate session between themselves and then rejoin the vice-president for a working lunch. Megawati will then report directly to Wahid.

Also under this arrangement, Ramli says, the cabinet will meet weekly. The new arrangement appears to put decision-making into the hands of a smaller, more closely coordinated circle of people.

Despite signs of Megawati's new assertiveness, former economic coordinating minister Kwik Kian Gie says the vice-president will make no important decisions. "It is all decided by Gus Dur," he says.

Sambuaga is more blunt. "She's not a person with guts," he says, bemoaning her failure to put more pressure on the president. "She's too soft -- she can't say No." Most criticism of the new cabinet was directed at the choice of Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo, a former Bank Rakyat Indonesia director who recently failed a central bank "Fit and Proper" assessment to head BRI. According to a banker familiar with the affair, a furious Wahid told central bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin after the assessment, "I don't know how, but I want him to pass." Sabirin refused to budge.

Wahid's relationship with Prijadi goes back to the early 1980s when Prijadi was a BRI branch manager in East Java. The president calls him the architect of the rural microcredit programme -- whose beneficiaries, among others, included members of Wahid's mass Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama. Despite the outcry over the appointment, some who worked with the new minister on the National Business Council were impressed by his conceptual approach to problems.

Some critics also have questioned Ramli's appointment, particularly his record as an economic nationalist and how it will square with the recovery plan laid out by the International Monetary Fund. The US-trained economist prefers to be called a pragmatist, but says he wants the IMF to concentrate on macroeconomics and monitoring -- and leave most sectoral issues, such as rice and forestry policy, petroleum subsidies, privatizations and small and medium-size business issues to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which he believes have a longer-term perspective than the IMF.

The new chief economics minister says the name of the game is leadership. "We shouldn't be looking in the side-mirrors when we're driving. We should be looking straight ahead."
 

Regional conflicts

Medan rocked by two bomb blasts, no casualties

Medan -- Two bombs exploded separately in an area near Jl. Bahagia in Medan Tenggara district in the early hours of Sunday morning. There were no casualties but one person was slightly injured. Several buildings, however, were damaged from the incident.

The first blast took place at about 2.45am in front of a kiosk belonging to Poltak Panjaitan. "The loud blast shocked people and we were afraid to go outside," a witness said.

Minutes later, about 7 meters from the site of the first blast, a second bomb exploded in front of the residence of Rev. J. Sitorus, a member of the clergy at Gereja Methodist Indonesia (Indonesian Methodist Church). The blast created a 20-centimeter crater on the ground and damaged the house's fence.

The reverend's son, Erickson Sitorus, suffered hearing damage from the thunderous explosion. "My right ear really hurts and I cannot hear a thing. My head keeps on pounding," Erickson told journalists later in the day.

The latest incident comes exactly one week after two similar bombs went off near a small Protestant church here on August 20 just before Sunday morning mass. The first explosion last week occurred in front of the Kemenangan Iman Indonesia (Indonesia's Victory of Faith) Church on Jl. Bunga Kenanga on the outskirts of Padang Bulan. After the explosion residents immediately combed the area and found a second device nearby wrapped in plastic. It went off after they threw it in a swamp.

Police confirmed that last week's two explosions were bombs, but declined to link it to a series of bomb blasts that hit the capital of North Sumatra in May.

Medan Police chief Sr. Supt. Hasyim Irianto, however, said a preliminary investigation showed that the two bombs on Sunday were made from similar substances with those which exploded in Padang Bulan.

"They were homemade bombs, and it seems that they used the same materials, such as sulphur, that were found in the bombs which exploded in a Protestant church last Sunday," Hasyim told The Jakarta Post by telephone later in the day.

Hasyim, however, said police had no clues as to who was behind the bombing. "This was certainly done by parties who want to stir chaos in Medan," he said. "The city has recently been rocked by brawls, strikes and bombings, but so far people have been able to unite and not be easily provoked by these incidents. So let's fight these acts of terror," he asserted.

Police patrols have increased around places of worship, mostly churches, to avoid further incidents. Security overall in the city has been tightened.

"In the last incident, the culprits placed the bombs in a housing complex. So we just have to work harder on this case," he said, adding that police were still investigating whether there was any connection between the last four explosions and the May bombings.

On May 28, a bomb exploded during a service at the Indonesian Protestant Church in downtown Medan, injuring 47 members of the congregation.

Two other bombs were also planted at two different churches but they did not explode. One day later, an explosion destroyed a restaurant on Jl. Pemuda, injuring three pedestrians. Many fear the incidents could lead to greater communal-religious unrest, similar to that in Maluku and North Maluku.

In another related development, police seized dozens of sharp weapons, molotov cocktails and an air rifle from warring youth camps of Jl. Mandailing and Jl. Aksara, Hasyim said.

"The two groups were involved in brawls about a week ago, which caused injuries to at least 10 people. We also seized other weapons from a gang of hoodlums in a series of raids over the past four days," he added.

Hundreds of villagers flee North Luwu regency mayhem

Malangke -- At least 1,400 residents from eight villages in West Malangke and Baebunta district in North Luwu regency left their homes on Sunday to escape communal clashes in the area that first erupted on Thursday.

Most have fled to Amasangeng, West Malangke district, about 500 kilometers north of Makassar, because their houses have been razed in riots, West Malangke district chief Baso Asri said on Sunday.

They are being sheltered in Malangke village hall and Malangke Urukumpang elementary school, he added. "Community and religious leaders have decided to protect these people. The evacuation is being tightly guarded by seven platoons from the police and military to avoid further dispute," Baso said.

"In a bid to avoid further pursuit from their rivals, locals have been leaving since Saturday for Palopo in Luwu regency via river and sea on board traditional katinting boats," he explained.

The refugees come from Mangkallang, To'baki, Anggrek Lara Satu and Landungdoa villages in West Malangke district and Urukumpang, Tepo Wara, Tokarua and Kalitata in Baebunta district. At least 210 houses were gutted by fire in the two districts since the clashes erupted on Friday, reports said.

Baso claimed the villagers had been attacked by people from Seriti and To'lemo from neighboring Lamasi district who had previously had their houses torched by migrants from Tana Toraja.

The condition of the refugees sheltering in Amasangeng, located 100 kilometers north of Palopo, was described as poor, with dozens of children suffering from diarrhea and severe breathing problems. "There's no clean water and we don't have food here," said 67-year-old Rita Bugi, a refugee from Landungdo.

South Sulawesi provincial administration spokesman Agus Sumantri promised that support was on its way. "The governor will visit the refugees this week and bring the necessary aid," he said.

"We are also trying to provide security for locals who want to seek refuge via sea or river. We have to watch the safety of these people as it will be easy for attackers to strike at them on land," South Sulawesi Police deputy chief Sr. Supt. Jusuf Manggabarani said.

Police also arrested a 17-year-old boy named Rahman for illegal possession of a papporo homemade gun, Luwu Police chief Supt. Anjaya said on Saturday. "He is being detained at Masamba Police station," Anjaya said.

It was also reported that a rioter was shot in a gunfight with police in Cenning village, West Malangke district, on Saturday, but details were not immediately available.

Communal conflict in Luwu has occurred regularly since 1985. It is often triggered by street brawls between teenagers, sparking intervillage clashes and later escalating into full-scale battles between natives of Tana Toraja and migrants from Java.

The government split the former Luwu area into two regencies last year in a last-ditch effort to quell the conflicts. According to migrants, clashes are initiated by natives envious of their wealth.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Jakarta ups ante on GAM to end violence

Jakarta -- The government yesterday stepped up pressure on rebels in restive Aceh province to halt violence which could jeopardize a three-month-old ceasefire agreement expected for extension.

Foreign Ministry Director General of Political Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said while Jakarta wants to extend the truce which expires on Saturday, the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has to stop armed fighting against security forces and locals.

"We are inclined to go for an extension but we have to assess improvements in the field by GAM," Wirayuda told reporters in Jakarta. "We hope that GAM can correct their attitude in regard to various threats against local district heads because that will be taken into account by the government in deciding whether or not to extend the humanitarian pause," he said. Wirayuda accused the rebels of also extorting money from local officials.

Earlier this month, Jakarta said it was "strongly inclined" to extend the truce, which was signed by the government and the rebels in Geneva on May 12. The rebels have also said they were inclined to extend the ceasefire, which took effect on June 2.

The government has insisted separatist rebels drop their demands for independence for Aceh. It recently warned that it was losing patience in the search for peace for the strife-torn region.

A so-called "Joint Forum," set up as a result of the Geneva agreement and comprising representatives of both parties, recently met to assess progress. The truce has been marred by sporadic violence. At least 65 people, including eight soldiers and two policemen, have been killed since June 2.

Local military and police commanders said last week that the ceasefire was not working and recommended the government declare a civil emergency in the province. A civil emergency is one step down from martial law and gives the authorities wide powers.

President Abdurrahman `Gus Dur' Wahid, struggling to keep this multi-ethnic country intact, has promised greater autonomy for the region to be implemented this year.

Abu Sofyan Dawud, a rebel leader in North Aceh, expressed hope yesterday that the truce would be extended. "People have been suffering because of the violence. Therefore we agree for any extension of the cease-fire," Dawud was quoted by AP as saying.

He claimed that at least 65 GAM members had been killed by ecurity forces since the signing of the peace pact. The 65 men, 15 of them top officers, had been killed by Indonesian soldiers in skirmishes over the past three months, Dawud said.

"The number of casualties were caused by the Indonesian military and police whose actions clearly violated the humanitarian pause in Aceh by conducting search operations and attacks on the GAM headquarters." "We have never initiated attacks against the military and police," he told AFP from North Aceh.

Dawud said the latest victim, Rusli Ismail, one of his top aides, was shot dead by a joint military and police unit in Paya Bakong village in Matangkuli, North Aceh, on Monday. He said Ismail was unarmed and receiving medical treatment in the village when ambushed by troops.

North Aceh Police Chief Superintendent Abadan Bangko told AFP the victim had fired the first shot against police and that officers had later found a home-made hand gun with eight remaining bullets on the victim.

GAM has waged a 25-year battle to separate the oil- and natural gas-rich region from the rest of Indonesia. At least 5,000 people have been killed in the past decade in the staunchly Muslim province with 4.1 million population on the northern tip of Sumatra.

Ineffective truce with Aceh rebels extended

Chris McCall, Jakarta -- The Government and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) yesterday half-heartedly announced that their ineffective truce would be extended, at least for now. A day after the truce officially expired, a joint statement was issued announcing new talks this month in Switzerland, where the deal was first signed in May.

Human rights monitors urged more understanding of the deep divisions between the two sides before a new round of bloody violence erupted in the separatist province in northern Sumatra. The weak May accord was reached by skirting these issues. Most crucial is whether or not Aceh will one day secede from Indonesia after more than a decade of fighting which has killed thousands.

"If it is war, of course it is going to get very difficult to talk about human rights problems," said Saifuddin Bantasyam, executive director of Aceh's Care Human Rights Forum.

There has already been a war of words over conditions for renewing the truce. Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab has said the Government will insist on curbs on rebels, prompting rebel ground commander Abdullah Syafii to question whether the truce was worth renewing.

Mr Bantasyam, whose group is one of the top independent rights monitors in Aceh, said the two sides were setting out their bargaining positions. The talks in Switzerland could turn into long negotiations over Aceh's status, he said. But they could also fail completely. "If indeed this political dialogue happens, maybe the Indonesian Government will say clearly that they do not want Aceh to be independent," said Mr Bantasyam. GAM would then restate its current position that Aceh must have independence.

Indonesia's military, still smarting from the loss of East Timor, has vowed to do all it can to prevent independence for Aceh. Recently several senior military officials have urged the cancellation of the truce and the imposition of a state of emergency instead, which would give the military increased powers.

Mr Bantasyam called for the international community and ordinary Acehnese to pressure both sides and help avoid a greater tragedy. "If it is independence then let it be without violence. The Government of Indonesia must realise that their attitude can also give rise to violence."
 

Labour struggle

Indonesian appeals for Australian union aid

Pip Hinman, Sydney -- Romawaty Sinaga, the international officer of the militant Indonesian National Front for Workers Struggle (FNPBI), in Australia to meet other trade unionists, has appealed for greater assistance for the emerging independent union movement in her country.

Commencing a two-week speaking tour, Sinaga told Melbourne unionists that the worsening economic crisis has greatly increased workers' requests to the FNPBI for assistance in waging campaigns.

Speaking at a reception hosted by the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Sinaga said that, despite its new legal status, her union still faces harassment by private security guards and the armed forces. A proposed law will give the state even greater powers to interfere in workers' organisations, she warned.

Sinaga is optimistic about convincing Australian unions to sponsor union organisers and the FNPBI's journal. Her tour has been supported by several unions, including the AMWU; the Maritime Union; the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and education unions.

The FNPBI, established just over a year ago, is led by former political prisoner Dita Sari. Despite its scant resources, the union has been at the forefront of an Indonesia-wide struggle against government cuts to subsidies on essential goods and services.

It is also leading a campaign for a minimum 100% wage rise and has been a prominent opponent of the military's involvement in politics, including the recent decision to allow the military to maintain its 38 unelected seats in the national parliament.

Besides meeting with union officials, Sinaga will visit construction sites and factories in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and Canberra. Sinaga has timed her visit to participate in the many discussions on workers' resistance to corporate globalisation which will precede the Melbourne S11 protests against the World Economic Forum. She will address three conferences in Melbourne, one of which will feature renowned Indian feminist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva.

Sinaga will also be the keynote speaker, along with Francisco Pascual from the Philippine People's Development Resource Centre, at the "Globalisation and Corporate Tyranny: labour movement resistance in the Asia-Pacific" seminar in Sydney on September 2.
 

Human rights/law

Rights group says serious obstacles to justice for Timor suspects

Jakarta -- An international rights group on Saturday welcomed Indonesia's naming of 19 suspects in the violence that ravaged East Timor after its independence vote last year, but said "serious obstacles" remained in bringing them to justice.

"The whole prosecution is still on shaky legal ground," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement received here. "The problem now is the legal basis of the cases," Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, Joe Saunders said.

The 19 -- whose status was changed on Saturday by the attorney general's office from "provisional suspects" to suspects -- include three Indonesian generals and 13 other government officials and lower ranking military men. The three others are little known pro-Jakarta militia men. "I think we can assume there is reasonably strong evidence against those named," Saunders said.

Conspicuous by their absence from the list were two men whose names topped an earlier list issued by a sub-commission of the National Commission on Human Rights -- former covert operations chief Zacky Anwar Makarim and then-armed forces commander General Wiranto.

"The failure to list Wiranto and Zacky doesn't mean they're off the hook. It may just indicate that for the moment the attorney general doesn't have a case against them that would hold up in court." Saunders suggested that the Indonesian prosecutors "could still go after Wiranto on chain of command grounds" but only after they can first prove a case against some of the lower- ranking officers on the list.

But the crux of the legal problem, he said, lay in a controversial constitutional amendment passed by the country's highest legislative body last month which prevents past crimes being tried under new laws.

That amendment will "likely bar prosecutors from charging suspects with international crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity," the Rights Watch' statement said.

The prosecution was relying on a 1999 presidential decree to enable them to set up a special human rights tribunal "but Indonesia's parliament considered but did not enact the [1999] decree into law," it said. Parliament has "also failed to pass other legislation which would provide for such a tribunal," it added.

The defence lawyers for the military men charged made it clear late Friday that they were exploring the same apparent weakness of the prosecutors' grounds for action. The defence team issued a statement saying they would take immediate legal action in order to "obtain legal certainty" in light of the constutitional amendment.

The UN's chief administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, on Friday indicated that the United Nations expected more suspects to be named. "It is a very good beginning, but only a beginning," de Mello said.

Topping the list of the 19 suspects was Major General Adam Damiri, formerly head of the Bali-based Udayana military command which had responsibility for East Timor.

Also named were Brigadier General Tono Suratman, Indonesian army commander in East Timor until three weeks before the August 30, 1999 vote, his replacement Colonel Noer Muis, and then Timor police chief General Timbul Salaen.

During a recent visit to Jakarta, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson reiterated that the UN would call an international war crimes tribunal if Jakarta failed to bring the perpetrators of the Timor violence to justice.

The wave of violence, arson and murder launched by Indonesian- backed militias, following the September 4 announcement of the overwhelming 78.5 percent vote for independence in East Timor, left more than 600 dead and its infrastructure in ruins. More than 200,000 East Timorese were pushed into Indonesian-controlled West Timor, most of them by force.

The exigencies of indicting a general

Susan Sim, Jakarta -- If history is written by victors and it is left to fiction to lionise the defeated, then General Wiranto and his nemesis, Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, cannot have crafted a better outcome than the one dictated by the hard realities of Indonesian politics.

Someone has to pay for the rape and destruction of newly-free East Timor almost a year ago, the liberators -- a United Nations which funded and supervised the independence ballot -- cried.

And so, Mr Marzuki, as chief Indonesian human rights advocate then, signed an instruction last September authorising a group of activists with no enforcement powers to look for suspects. When they turned up with a list of 30 alleged abusers four months later, Mr Marzuki, now Attorney-General, had the task of gathering evidence for indictments.

If fate were any more peculiar, he would have been named Defence Minister in the new Cabinet last week, required now to defend the military from being destroyed by over-zealous human rights enforcers.

But instead he is still A-G -- thanks partly to his own Golkar party leader, whose only request to a reshuffling President was that Mr Marzuki keep his post -- and now required to explain why he failed yesterday to accuse General Wiranto of crimes against humanity.

But did anyone seriously think Jakarta was going to put in the dock a former military commander whose main sin is not delivering the right historical result -- a pro-Indonesia vote -- last August?

A president much of the establishment detested had suddenly offered the East Timorese an option two -- independence. Dr B.J. Habibie will go down in history on the side of the liberators. But most Indonesians of any standing would prefer to consign him to the dustbin of history for allowing the UN to snatch East Timor away.

Gen Wiranto was named a potential suspect by a fact-finding team back in January because it was politically expedient then -- President Abdurrahman Wahid needed a good excuse, and international support, to get rid of him.

He no longer poses much of a threat to the presidency, if left alone. Indeed the president cannot afford to antagonise his army anymore if he wants his generals to continue a show of support for him.

Not exactly the most effective commander-in-chief the Indonesian Defence Force (TNI) ever had, Gen Wiranto does not arouse the sort of fanatical support which would see troops mobilising to save him from the ignominy of a trial.

But as an institution, the TNI has taken a bashing in recent months and the public humiliation of a former commander for carrying out the first principle of their Sapta Marga (Soldier's Oath) -- keeping the nation united -- would have hollowed out what little cohesive strength it had.

Mr Marzuki has always known it was not evidence he required to show that Gen Wiranto either orchestrated the atrocities in East Timor or deliberately failed to stop a rag-tag bunch of militiamen and rogue soldiers from committing the crimes. Indeed aides to Gen Wiranto told The Straits Times months ago that the A-G assured the general that he would never be able to get the requisite legal evidence to take him to court.

Indictments would hinge on political will, specifically that of the president, who will have to consider his own political constituency. Both President Abdurrahman and the A-G know that a sustained international outcry could force their hand too, particularly with an emotional anniversary drawing renewed global attention now and an unruly militia stirring up trouble at Indonesia's border with the new UN protectorate.

A half-trial of sorts is the required minimum -- prosecute those whose bloody handprints can never be white-washed, keep the others on the hook as potential defendants, and hope the world is satisfied.

The principles are on Jakarta's side. Among advocates of international human rights tribunals, there is an emerging consensus that where national courts have begun an investigation, the world should back off.

It is a principle articulated most forcefully by the United States government as it seeks what Human Rights Watch calls "ironclad assurances" that none of its nationals can ever be prosecuted under the International Criminal Court treaty, a new mechanism to prosecute individuals who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The treaty is still about 48 nations shy of the 60 ratifications required, a slow process given that the US joined Iraq, China and four other countries to vote against the treaty back in July 1998. So if Washington can argue that its generals must always be protected from any international court because it is likely to be driven by political motivation than a genuine concern for human rights, than certainly, Jakarta has to be given some benefit of the doubt when it says its court is willing, but has no evidence, to charge a general for crimes of omission.

If the US is to play its traditional role as main engine behind a UN push for an international tribunal, then it has to consider this: Does Washington want Mr Abdurrahman to stake his presidency on exacting retribution for East Timor's sufferings?

The 19 names on the list

1. Maj-Gen Adam Damiri, former regional commander
2. Brig-Gen FX Tono Suratman, former army commander
3. Brig-Gen Timbul Silaen, former police chief
4. Abilio Soares, former East Timor governor
5. Lt-Col Hulman Gultom, former Dili police chief
6. Lt-Col (Inf) Soedjarwo, former Dili military chief
7. Lt-Col (Inf) Asep Kuswandi, former Liquisa military chief
8. Leonito Martins, former Liquisa district head
9. Lt-Col (Pol) Adios Salova, former Liquisa police chief
10. Col (Inf) Herman Sediyono, former Cova Lima district head
11. Lt-Col CZI Lilik Kushardiyanto, former Suai military chief
12. Lt-Col Gatot Subiaktoro, former Suai police chief
13. Capt (Inf) Ahmad Syamsuddin, former Suai military chief of staff
14. Lt (Inf) Sugito, former Suai subdistrict military chief
15. Col M Nur Muis, former Wiradharma military chief
16. Lt-Col Yayat Sudrajat, former chief of Tribuana task force
17. Izidio Manek, fighter
18. Alisio Mau, fighter
19. Martinus Bere, fighter

Jakarta names generals in East Timor inquiry

Jakarta -- Indonesia on Friday named three generals as suspects in its probe into the violence that followed last year's East Timor independence vote but immediately came under pressure to go higher up the military chain of command.

The list of 19 names did not include some top generals, including Indonesia's military chief at the time, Wiranto, who human rights activists insist had a hand in the systematic destruction of East Timor after most of the population voted a year ago to end 23 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

Also absent were the names of some of the most notorious of the pro-Jakarta militia leaders who, with Indonesian military backing, launched a campaign of terror in the tiny territory after the result of the August 30 vote was announced.

The attorney-general's office named the three generals -- former regional military commander Major-General Adam Damiri, former East Timor military commander Brigadier-General Tono Suratman and ex-East Timor police chief Brigadier-General Timbul Silaen.

The others named included a former East Timor Jakarta-appointed governor Abilio Soares as well as mostly middle-ranking military officers who had been based in East Timor's hardest-hit areas.

"The list is very unsatisfactory, especially because Wiranto is not on the list," Asmara Nababan, Secretary-General of Indonesia's Human Rights Commission told Reuters. "We are talking about gross violation against humanity and Wiranto, who was at the top of the command line at that time, was excluded ... [It] indicates that Indonesia still faces a lot of political constraints," he said.

The majority of East Timorese were forced from their homes and much of the impoverished territory's infrastructure was laid to waste in the violence in which hundreds are thought to have died.

Multinational troops were eventually sent in to bring under control the former Portuguese colony which Indonesia invaded in 1975. The territory is now under United Nations administration.

Move seen as good start

The initial international reaction was modestly enthusiastic. "I think it is a good beginning. You have heard some say it fell short of expectations. It is true," head of the United Nations operation in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, told reporters during a visit to Jakarta.

But he said it was difficult to expect Jakarta to resolve the issue at its first attempt and took heart from a pledge by Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman that the investigations would continue.

Indonesia has been under strong international pressure to put on trial those responsible for the violence or face the threat of an international tribunal.

De Mello's comments were echoed by Nobel peace laureate and key East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta. "It's a good start, but we now have to wait to see how far the process will go in order to satisfy those who expect justice," he told Reuters by telephone from East Timor.

Fellow East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao welcomed Jakarta's naming of suspects and said he hoped more names would follow. "We must have confidence and give time to the investigators. It may be during the process other proofs appear," Gusmao told Portugal's TSF radio.

Reaffirming that the East Timorese sought justice but not revenge, Gusmao said he believed the naming of the generals marked an important step in Indonesia's move toward full democracy. A leading Dili-based East Timorese said Indonesia had not gone far enough and urged international action if justice was not served.

Yayasn Hak director Aniceto Guterres said Wiranto and all those involved must be brought to justice. "If soldiers do wrong, the generals take responsibility," he told Reuters in Dili. "Final responsibility is in his [Wiranto's] hands." However, he said it was too early to declare Indonesia's efforts to bring those responsible to justice a failure. "But the signs are not good and I am very pessimistic," he said.

"The process must be in accordance with international standards and the international community has a responsibility to make sure it is." Muhammad Abdul Rachman, a chief investigator at the Attorney-General's office, told a news conference that all 19 were currently potential suspects, but that from September 5 they would be questioned as actual suspects.

Looking for suspects

He left open the possibility of naming more suspects in the investigation, which he is leading. Rachman refuted suggestions that Indonesia had been influenced by any international pressure in naming the suspects.

"The listing of the potential suspects by the team of investigators was based on the strong confidence [over the evidence], not because of international pressure," Rachman said.

Retired general Wiranto, who has denied being involved, was sacked earlier this year by President Abdurrahman Wahid as part of the Muslim cleric's efforts to sideline the military from politics.

Activists condemn Timor suspects list, UN expects more names

Jakarta -- Indonesian investigators were condemned by rights activists Friday for omitting top Indonesian generals and notorious militia leaders from a list of suspects in last year's bloodshed in East Timor.

However the UN's top administrator in East Timor welcomed the list as "a very good beginning" and a sign that "the glass is half full" in efforts to put on trial those responsible for the violence.

Three generals and three little known militia members were among the names of 19 "provisional suspects" read out by Indonesia's chief investigator Friday.

But notably absent were former military chief General Wiranto and feared ex-militia leader Eurico Guterres. Indonesia's Legal Aid and Human Rights Association said the people "most responsible" for rights violations in East Timor had been left off the list.

"This list shows that the legal process has in fact become into a tool for those most responsible to avoid prosecution," the Association said in a publicly-issued statement.

Human rights lawyer Johnson Panjaitan said the 78-member investigation team who came up with the list after four months of inquiries had been compromised by the presence of police and military representatives on the team. "They were deeply influenced, they didn't have the courage to name people who should take most responsibility, like the top armed forces commanders," Panjaitan told AFP.

The UN's chief administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, described the list as a "very good beginning, but only a beginning." De Mello was in Jakarta for talks with President Abdurrahman Wahid, senior ministers and top military officers when the list was announced.

He said neither the Attorney General Marzuki Darusman nor the Indonesian government should be blamed "if all the names are not there yet." "It is true it always difficult to fill the glass in the first announcement," he told reporters as he emerged from the talks. "For us the glass is half full and will continue to be filled. That was clearly the message Marzuki [Darusman] gave me when I met with him yesterday. We have medium to senior level names on that list. More will follow I understand," de Mello said.

He said he disagreed with suggestions the Indonesian investigation had been insufficient. "We need to move from the bottom up. The same happened in Rwanda, the same happened in the former Yugoslavia," he said. Chief investigator Muhammed Abdul Rachman said the names he read out Friday were "provisional suspects" who would be summonsed and questioned again next Tuesday. Rachman said the possibility of more suspects being named in "ongoing investigations" was "not closed."

A spokesman for the attorney general's office said the 19 would "definitely" be indicted as suspects after Tuesdays' questioning.

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said it was too soon to judge if Indonesia would be subjected to heightened pressure to allow an international tribunal to try the cases. "We have to see first, to investigate what sort of objections from the international community because [general] Wiranto's name is not there," he said after meeting de Mello.

"Let us ask Mr. Marzuki [Darusman] what is behind his decision, or the decision of the group who investigated the matter." Asked if he was embarrassed that many high profile names were not on the list, he replied "No comment."

Mr Shihab said last week he had been embarrassed by a constitutional amendment which prevents the trials under laws that didn't exist when a crime was committed.

Indonesia has been under intense international pressure to hold trials for crimes committed in East Timor, since a UN inquiry earlier this year concluded that army personnel were directly involved in the violence.

During a recent visit to Jakarta, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson reiterated that the UN would call an international war crimes tribunal if Jakarta failed to bring the perpetrators of the Timor violence to trial.

The wave of violence, arson and murder launched by Indonesian- backed militias following the September 4 announcement of the overwhelming 78.5 percent vote for independence in East Timor left more than 600 dead and the small half-island's infrastructure in ruins.

More than 200,000 people were pushed out of the territory at gunpoint before UN-sanctioned troops arrived to quell the violence.

Men to fear presided over descent into chaos

Chris McCall and Staff Reporters -- They were among the men to fear in Dili in the bloody weeks before and after last year's independence vote.

The name of former governor Abilio Soares appears on Jakarta's list, alongside that of Brigadier-General Tono Suratman, the former East Timor military commander who was promoted after being pulled out of East Timor weeks before the August 30 vote. Colonel Nur Muis, the man who replaced him and held military command through the worst of the violence in early September, is on the list.

Also named was Major-General Adam Daimiri, the former head of the Bali-based Udayana military command, which held control over East Timor until Indonesia relinquished its claim to the territory in October. Others are intelligence chief General Yayat Sudrajat, former police chief Brigadier-General Timbul Silaen, and police and military chiefs from Dili, Liquica and Suai -- cited for specific incidents.

Two weeks after last year's independence vote, the former leader of one of the anti-independence militias, in an interview with the South China Morning Post, implicated many of these men in the murderous campaign before and after the referendum.

Tomas Goncalves said the political cleansing of East Timor was planned at a meeting in Dili in February last year, organised by General Sudrajat, then a lieutenant-colonel, who was the head of the SGI, the secret intelligence organisation of the military's Kopassus special forces.

The colonel, Mr Goncalves said, called at that meeting for the killing of pro-independence movement leaders, their children and even their grandchildren. Mr Goncalves said: "The agenda for the meeting included funding and arming of the militias, food and other supplies."

He said the colonel had received orders before the meeting from Brigadier Tono, who was answerable to General Daimiri. He in turn answered to General Zacky Anwar -- the former head of BIA, Indonesia's national intelligence body -- whose name is prominent among those missing from the list announced yesterday.

General Anwar topped the list of suspects drawn up by UN human rights experts who conducted their own investigation to support possible trials for war crimes in East Timor.

At another meeting Mr Goncalves attended on March 26, the militia leader said governor Soares gave orders that priests and nuns should be killed.

In December Brigadier Tono denied the military had armed the militias. "There was no weapons supply. They made their weapons themselves," he said. Asked if he had ordered his soldiers to raze the former Portuguese colony after it voted to reject Indonesian rule, Brigadier Tono said there was "no such order, nor instruction" and added "there were no relations" between the armed forces and the militias.

Nineteen suspects named over bloodbath

Chris McCall, Jakarta -- Jakarta yesterday finally named a string of top military and police officers among 19 suspects involved in last year's East Timor bloodbath, but received a suspicious response.

Among the names were two of East Timor's previous military commanders under Indonesian rule, plus its last police chief and last governor. But the Attorney-General's investigation team did not name then military chief Wiranto, bringing accusations of a whitewash.

Leading human rights activist Munir said it was an attempt to test the international community's resolve. "I think they are going to try to limit responsibility," said Mr Munir, head of the pressure group, Kontras. "Now a lot depends on the reaction of the international community."

Six former top officials were named as suspects due to their role in overseeing Indonesia's rule of the territory as it degenerated into chaos before and after the August 30 independence vote. A further 13 people were named because of evidence of their involvement in specific incidents.

All but six came from the security forces, while only three were members of the anti-independence militias they supported and used as scapegoats for the bloodshed. The Attorney-General's office said suspects would be questioned next week. Others may be named as suspects later, spokesman Yushar Yahya said."

The incidents studied were the most high profile, although dozens of other killings occurred. Those investigated included two massacres at churches in the towns of Liquica and Suai. Also looked at were attacks on the homes of independence supporter Manuel Carrascalao and spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo. The murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes as an Australian-led intervention force landed in Dili to restore order in mid- September was also investigated.

But a leading member of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission expressed disappointment. After its own investigation earlier this year, the commission presented a much longer list of names for investigation, including that of Mr Wiranto. The others could not have taken actions without his knowledge, commission secretary-general Asmara Nababan said. The commission's naming of Mr Wiranto led to his dismissal from the cabinet.

The commission's inquiry came amid intense pressure for an international war crimes tribunal on the East Timor violence. Ultimately the United Nations gave Indonesia the chance to try its own. But some of those implicated are powerful men and Indonesia's legal system has been weakened by endemic corruption under former president Suharto.

Mr Nababan said this could be a test of the international community's resolution in dealing with the East Timor issue a year on.

East Timor's UN administrator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said of the list: "We have medium to senior level names on that list. More will follow I understand."

"We must have confidence [in] the investigators. It may be other proofs [of involvement] appear," independence leader Xanana Gusmao said. But fellow independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta expressed outrage at the absence of the notorious leader of the Aitarak militia, Eurico Guterres, from the suspects' list. "If Eurico Guterres, a notorious war criminal, is not brought to trial, it leaves no option to the United Nations but to set up a war crimes tribunal," he said.

Human rights lawyer Johnson Panjaitan said the 78-member team which came up with the list after four months of inquiries had been compromised by the presence of police and military representatives on the team.

Indonesian land rights activists tell of abduction

Jakarta -- Three Indonesian student activists who picketted the national assembly last month, have related how they and a fellow protestor were abducted at gunpoint and held incommunicado for 13 days, reports said Saturday.

The four, all members of the Land Reform Consortium (KPA), had been staging a hunger strike to protest the appropriation of farmers' land by big companies when they were removed from the assembly premises by police on August 14, the Indonesian Observer said.

But three of them told a press conference arranged by rights groups in Jakarta that after they were dropped off in the city by police, they were picked up in a street by masked gunmen, and taken to separate unknown destinations.

One of the four, Usep Setiawan, 27, said he was asked to explain the group's activities and name people who had given money to the KPA. "I wasn't tortured ... they just covered my head during the interrogations ... sometimes they shook my head if my explanations didn't satisfy them," Usep said.

The three, who often broke down and cried during the press conference, said they were unable to identify their abductors, who had warned them that their families would be killed if they made their experiences public, the Observer said.

"They repeatedly asked me about looting from timber companies, forest concession areas, commercial plantations and other areas," Usep said. "From the tone of the questions I thought they were accusing me and my fellow KPA activists of masterminding such looting activities across Indonesia."

The three said they were moved several times, and had no idea where they were until being freed individually and handed air tickets for Jakarta by their captors. All found themselves hundreds of miles from Jakarta, two in the Javanese city of Yogyakarta, and another in Semarang.

The founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS), Munir, told the press conference that the style of the abduction showed the men were "not civilians."

"Civilians would not know how to leap out of a car, point guns at people and force them into a vehicle, all within a matter of seconds. It was a professional job," Munir said.

The abductions were the first known since 23 student pro- democracy activists were kidnapped during the dying months of the rule of former president Suharto who quit in May of 1998 amid mass student protests.

Of the 23, nine were found alive, one found dead and 13 are still missing. Indonesian special forces troops were found guilty last year of abducting the nine, but the mastermind behind the act was never named.

Since Suharto's fall thousands of farmers and landless people have tried to reclaim land they said was taken from them with little or no compensation by plantation and timber companies.

Experts differ on Soeharto's trial

Jakarta -- With former president Soeharto's appearance as a defendant in his corruption trial in doubt, judicial experts disagreed on Thursday over the legality of trying him in his absence.

Satjipto Rahardjo from Diponegoro University, Semarang, Central Java said an in absentia trial for Soeharto was legally baseless. "Such a trial can only be held when the defendant is at large or his or her whereabouts are unknown. The trial cannot continue without Soeharto's presence at the courtroom, because he is not hiding or at large," he said as quoted by Antara.

Satjipto said the panel of judges had the authority to ask for a medical examination by an independent team of doctors to re-check the state of Soeharto's health. "The examination is to confirm the accuracy of the initial medical diagnosis. It is natural for prosecutors to ask for an independent team of doctors' examination to give a second opinion on Soeharto's condition," he said.

However, University of Indonesia (UI) criminal law lecturer Harkristuti Harkrisnowo said the 1971 anti-corruption law, which is being used against Soeharto, allows for an in absentia trial. "The trial can continue even if Soeharto is declared unfit for the trial," she told The Jakarta Post by phone on Thursday evening.

She was referring to Paragraph 1, Article 23, of the law, which states that if a defendant cannot appear before a trial without a valid reason, the case can continue and the judges are entitled to issue a verdict without the defendant's presence.

"Moreover, Paragraph 5 of the article says that if the defendant dies before a verdict is issued and there is strong evidence that the defendant has committed corruption, the judges can seize all the defendant's properties," she said.

Another UI legal expert, Loebby Loqman, said that presenting Soeharto in court was problematic. "He can escape from the obligation to appear at the trial providing the state of his health is a valid reason. But, many people doubt the report presented by Soeharto's lawyers. Is it true that Soeharto is really ill? That's what the judges should find out," he said in a live interview with state television station TVRI on Thursday evening.

Andi Rudiyanto Asapa of the National Council of Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, that the judges should deliver a summons to Soeharto to attend the trial in the future.

"But, if he fails to respond to the third summons, the prosecutors have the right to force him [Soeharto] to appear in court despite his illness," Andi said, referring to Criminal Code Procedures.

"Or, if the defendant has acceptable grounds for being absent from the hearing, the panel of judges could come to the defendant's residence and hold the trial [there]. The panel of judges is also authorized to have the defendant's health checked [in hospital] if the defendant is said to be ill," Andi, who is also chairman of the Makassar Lawyers Club, said.

While criminal law expert Prof. Muchsan of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University said that a medical recommendation by an independent team of doctors could be used by the judges to decide whether the court should force Soeharto to attend the trial or not.

Suharto a no-show as doctors declare him too ill for trial

Mark Landler, Jakarta -- The corruption trial of Indonesia's fallen leader, Suharto, got under way here this morning in the converted auditorium of a government ministry building that was crowded with spectators and ringed by police officers, but missing one man: the accused.

Moments before Mr. Suharto was scheduled to appear before the court to answer charges that he siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars for his own use through charitable organizations under his control, lawyers for the 79-year-old former president said he was too ill to attend the hearing.

Mr. Suharto's chief lawyer, Juan-Felix Tampubolon, told the judge that his client had been examined by a team of 23 doctors at his residence in central Jakarta early this morning. The doctors concluded that Mr. Suharto was very ill and could not attend the hearing, he said. The announcement drew a chorus of boos inside and outside the courtroom.

The judge, Lalu Mariyun, adjoured the proceeding and ordered Mr. Suharto's doctors to attend another hearing in two weeks to explain their findings. He also said he would consider the prosecution's request for an independent panel of doctors to re- examine Mr. Suharto.

Guessing whether Mr. Suharto would show up had become a sort of parlor game here in recent days, as demonstrators marched, prosecutors made tough statements, and newspapers mused about his state of mind. Few people were surprised that he pleaded illness.

Even after the tumultuous changes that followed Mr. Suharto's ouster in May 1998, people here are skeptical that their stunted legal system can take on a strongman who ruled this country for 32 years, amassing a vast fortune made Indonesia synonymous with corruption.

The mood in Jakarta turned tense in the hours before Mr. Suharto was scheduled to appear. Late yesterday, a small bomb exploded in an empty bus parked near the building where the trial is set to take place. There were no injuries, but the bus was destroyed. Authorities had moved the trial from the South Jakarta District Court to the Department of Agriculture for security reasons, and to accommodate a large crowd.

The stakes go beyond Mr. Suharto's own future. Legal experts and political analysts said that unless the government successfully prosecutes the former president, Indonesia will never cleanse itself of a legacy of corruption that ranges from financial scandals to military massacres.

"We have to make an example of Suharto," said Umar Juoro, a former adviser to Mr. Suharto's successor, B. J. Habibie. "Bring him into the court, charge him, convict him, and then pardon him if necessary. But we must demonstrate that everybody is the same before the law."

The case against Mr. Suharto was dealt its first setback under former President Habibie, when his government dropped its investigation of him last October, saying it could not turn up enough evidence. That decision drew howls of protest from people here, and it contributed to Mr. Habibie's ignominious withdrawal from the presidential election held later that month.

Mr. Habibie's successor, President Abdurrahman Wahid, swiftly reopened the case. And his prosecutors have steadily tightened the noose around Mr. Suharto -- placing him under city arrest in April, house arrest in May, and formally charging him with corruption this month.

Mr. Wahid has promised to pardon Mr. Suharto -- but only after he is judged. The president has also suggested that Mr. Suharto could strike a deal by returning money stolen from the state. One of Mr. Wahid's senior advisers, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, began negotiations with members of the Suharto family. But he said today that those talks had been suspended.

Mr. Suharto and his family are accused of building a multibillion-dollar fortune by siphoning state money and steering contracts to family-owned firms. But General Marsuki Darusman, Indonesia's attorney general, has focused on a narrower set of allegations involving seven tax-free foundations under Mr. Suharto's control.

Mr. Suharto's trial is so important because it comes at a time when the struggle for Indonesia's future has shifted from the streets into the courtroom. His case is one of nearly a dozen investigations and prosecutions of people who were officials, cronies, or tycoons in the Suharto era.

Indonesia's ex-president told to face court or else

Jakarta -- Former Indonesian president Suharto's failure to attend the opening of his own trial Thursday had been widely expected but public patience is wearing. Economists, political analysts and a former judge warned of further social unrest if the "stage show" continues.

Bandying a letter from the head of Suharto's private team of doctors, defence lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon told the court that the 79-year-old was medically unfit to appear at the tribunal. Doctors examined Suharto early Thursday, he said.

The head of the panel of five judges hearing the case, Lalu Mariyun later demanded that both Suharto's private team of doctors and another appointed by the attorney general, both be heard by the court.

"This may drag on, and the consequence is that the people may be further frustrated and this can carry negative results," Economist Pande Raja Silalahi said. He said people would see the trial as a mere show with the government's commitment to upholding justice a mere slogan. They may lose what confidence they have left in the government, he said, adding that if their patience is tried, they may take matters into their own hands.

"Why does the government simply not bring Suharto physically to court, accompanied by doctors, if need be, and let the judge and the public judge for themselves whether he really is unfit to stand trial," Silalahi said.

Benjamin Mangkudilaga, a judge respected for his integrity when he headed the Jakarta state administrative court, said whatever argument is presented by the defence, judges would decide whether Suharto was unfit for trial.

He said judges could see Suharto's condition for themselves by visiting the former autocrat at home, or attempt to communicate with him through teleconferencing.

"We were just shown a stage show," said Hendardi who chairs the Indonesian Association of Legal Aid and Human Rights. The prosecutor should have taken over the treatment of Suharto," Hendardi said. Under Indonesian laws, the prosecutors are responsible for bringing a defendant to court.

Hendardi said the health issue could have been avoided if the prosecutor had taken over responsibility for Suharto's health treatment, especially after he was declared a defendant on August 23.

Political observer Andi Mallarangeng, a former member of the national electoral committee, said although he did not have "a lot of expectations" for the trial, Suharto must show up at court. "I think he should show up at the trial ... as a human being I can sympathize with him, but he has brought this whole event down on himself as a result of his past actions," Mallaranggeng said.

Silalahi and Hendardi both warned that public disappointment and frustration over the trial may easily translate into public rallies, and possibly lead to violence. "Demonstrations, protests by both camps, are one of the forms these frustrations can take, and I think the market is mostly worried about this aspect," Silalahi said.

The Jakarta share market spoke for itself when its index closed morning trade 1.0 percent down. Dealers blamed concerns of violence and unrest linked to the trial.

An explosion had alreay rocked an area not far from the tightly guarded venue of the trial in South Jakarta late on Wednesday. The blast, which police believed was caused by powereful firecrackers, damaged a parked bus but caused no injuries.

Vociferous anti-Suharto yells greeted the certainty that Suharto would not appear in court. Hundreds of student rallying in front of the gate of the venue, deamnded that Suharto appear in court "sick or not."

Student reformers who helped topple Suharto in 1998, reacted with anger and disgust at the his absence. They said they will push for "a trial by the people" and warned that in the coming days, they would take to the streets "in huge numbers and target buildings that are symbolic of Suharto's power."

Scavengers appeal to Human Rights Commission for justice

Djoko Tjiptono/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- Around 40 representatives of the Indonesian Scavenger's Association (IPI) staged a noisy protest at the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) offices in Jakarta Wednesday. They complained that they had been arbitrarily and forcible evicted by the North Jakarta Police and PT Green Garden.

The representatives of the scavengers, known as pemulung, were met by Nizir Rosul, a member of the Komnas HAM expert staff, in the meeting room of their offices on Jl. Latuharhary, Central Jakarta.

According to IPI leader, Ety Lengkong, around 60 families had worked sorting refuse at the location in Lorotan, Cilincing sub district, North Jakarta since 1982. The community grew but in 1995 the 32-hectare plot was claimed and forcefully taken by PT Green Garden in cooperation with the North Jakarta Police in 1995.

"For this reason, we want to ask for protection and justice because the police as law enforcers have apparently switched function and becomes judges," Ety said with enthusiasm.

This IP leader also strongly condemned the police actions. Ety said officers had burnt nine houses without cause when clearing them off the land. This showed that police officers were not neutral and had been bought, Ety added.

"For this reason we asked the National Police Chief to fire officers involved in that violence and to investigate the legal proof of ownership of the land," Ety concluded.

Trial of former president Suharto: historic event or flop

Jakarta -- Indonesia's first democratically-elected government will put its reform image on the line Thursday by bringing former president Suharto to trial for corruption. The case will open amid doubts that the former strongman will show up at the court, and assurances of a pardon if found guilty.

As workers were busy preparing the venue -- an auditorium of a ministry building in South Jakarta -- lawyers of the former president left a decision on whether Suharto will actually sit in the defendant's chair to the last minute.

Lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon said Suharto's private team of doctors will decide three hours ahead of the trial's opening at 10am Thursday whether or not he will appear. The government' own team of doctors, he said, would be given the opportunity to dispute any "unfit" verdict issued by Suharto's doctors.

Suharto, now 79, faces charges of stealing 571 million dollars from the state by funnelling money from huge tax-free charity foundations he ran into the businesses of family and friends.

Indonesia's autocratic ruler of 32 years, the former army general could face a maximum sentence of life -- were it not for the promised pardon. Bringing Suharto to court has been one of the main pegs of the country's reform drive that followed his fall.

Suharto' hand-picked successor, his protege B.J. Habibie, attempted to halt the official graft probe on him in 1999. But the case was reopened months later by the government of the country's first democratically-elected president, Abdurrahman Wahid. However, Wahid has pledged a complete pardon -- on condition Suharto first stand trial.

Suharto's health condition, repeatedly used in the past by his lawyers to avoid questioning by state prosecutors, "has so far only come from his lawyers' mouths," said leading rights activist Hendardi. His lawyers have said Suharto could no longer express his thoughts coherently and that his memory is failing. Although it was certain that the health of the former president had regressed, "nothing else is sure," said Hendardi, who chairs the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association.

Suharto's secretary, Senior Superintendent Anton Tabah, was pessimistic Suharto would appear in court. "When he was told yesterday about tomorrow's trial, his blood pressure rose from 130 to 160, so doctors are 90 percent certain that Mr. Suharto will not be able to be present," he told the Detikcom online news service.

With no previous history of bringing a head of state to a tribunal, and the recent controversial decision by a Jakarta court to free a main suspect in a multi-million dollar bank scandal, hopes are thin that justice will be served.

"It has been increasingly proven that in many major cases of corruption, collusion and nepotism, the very institutions supposed to uphold the law become the means for the corruptors to free themselves from the trap of the law," said Hendardi.

Hendardi also warned of "planned and systematic" efforts to fight efforts to probe and deal with past corruption cases. He said elements from Suharto's so-called New Order government, were using "money politics, mass mobilization, the creation of political instability and market vulnerability," to divert public attention away from their past misdeeds.

The trial, where attendance will be limited to 400 people, half of them from the media, will also feature a council of five judges instead of the customary three. Chief Judge Lalu Mariyun, who heads the council, said the high number was because of the "thickness" of the dossier and the seriousness of the case.

For the first time since Suharto resigned amid mounting public pressure and widespread protests in May 1998, public shows of support for the ageing former strongman have taken place.

At least three separate demonstrations, all involving previously unknown groups, have taken place this week to protest the trial.

But radical student groups have taken to the streets again to express distrust in the planned trial, and to call for a "People's Tribunal" to judge Suharto, not only for corruption but also for human rights abuses.

The dossier, they say, is thicker still and includes the mass slaughter of communists in the 1960's, the crushing of provincial independence movements, the supression of free speech and the abduction of those who defied him.
 

News & issues

Seven injured in FPI attack on Tebet cafes, bars

Jakarta -- Seven people, including four women, were accosted when some 100 members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) attacked cafes and bars in Tebet, South Jakarta, on Friday evening, a police officer said on Saturday.

Tebet Police chief of detectives First Insp. Supangat said three men -- Satim, Taat and Kokom -- suffered cuts to their heads during the attack. He also said three of the women victims, identified as Uum, Iin and Icih, received slight injuries when they attempted to escape from the mob. FPI members shaved the head of the other woman victim, identified as Tina, the officer said.

According to Supangat, his men had no information on the current status of the victims because the case was still under investigation. He added that police have made no arrests in connection with the attack.

By law, under no circumstances are civilians allowed to conduct such attacks on places of business. Supangat said at least eight people had been questioned as witnesses in connection with the incident.

He confirmed none of those questioned were from the FPI, but were guests and employees of the Moon Cafe and Bar, one of the establishments on Jl. Dr. Sahardjo which was attacked. "The FPI members raided the cafes and bars in the area because they suspected those places were allowing activities related to vice to take place inside the buildings," he said.

The seven injured in the attack were released from the hospital after receiving treatment. Supangat said the victims were accosted as they attempted to flee the building.

During preliminary questioning, the eight witnesses told police investigators they were unsure what was happening when the FPI members first entered the premises. "They just saw the people were wearing clothes with the acronym FPI printed on them," he said.

Separately, FPI secretary Reza Pahlevi confirmed the attack on Friday was the work of the organization's members. "We observed the area previously and later identified several bars and cafes as our target since these places were used for vice activities," Reza told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Saturday.

But he denied any of the members were involved in violence, adding the police had yet to contact him about the matter. "I'll check the information. And if we find some people were injured during the raid, we'll look into whether the attackers were really FPI members," Reza said.

He said he suspected several local residents took part in the raids. But Reza added he could understand the anger of the FPI members, since the organization had issued at least three warning letters to the owners of the nightspots prior to the raid. "FPI members have been monitoring Cafe Kawanua on Jl. Dr. Sahardjo because it has been raided three times but has persisted in resuming its vice activities," he said.

Reza said the organization did not believe the public disapproved of its activities, saying that only the operators of establishments involved in illegal activities opposed the FPI's raids because they could harm their businesses. "We have to differentiate the public reaction. Those who oppose our actions are those who have been linked with vice, such as drinking, drugs and prostitution," he said.

Rail fare hikes burden poor

Nenden NF/Hendra & LM, Yogyakarta -- A 70% rise in economy class railway fares, implemented Friday, are likely to prove extremely burdensome for the poor.

The decree signed last week by the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Agum Gumelar, will see economy class fares rise by up 50-70%. Executive class fares are also set to rise by the same degree in the near future. The government owned railway company the hikes have been introduced due to the end of government subsidies, the rising cost of spare parts and fund- flow problems with the central government.

Ari Wibowo, a member of the Research and Development staff from the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, spoke to Detik at the YLKI office in Yogyakarta, Friday.

"Such extreme hikes particularly effect those at the lower end of the economy scale. For those in the middle and upper portions of the scale, the rises will not burden them," Ari said.

According to Ari, the government must introduce better management and coordination, particularly with the Land Transportation Owners' Organisation (Organda). "So far, the management of public transportation has been given to businessmen without optimalising the performance of Organda," he said.

Indeed, the fare hikes need not happen because efficiency is still in need of additional effort. "There are so many losses, especially in the management on the ground, " said Ari.

The Consumer group is also concerned with proper public services and there were many instances where passengers suffered financial loss from taking public transport. "For example, there's no security guarantees, disorganised service and so on which should have been dealt with before, "said Ari.

Ari also drew attention to the frequency of late arrivals and departures and high-crime rate on public transport. "It's important for people to think that the government has good intentions regarding the price hikes, " he said.

The fare hikes for public transport, especially for railway and taxi fares was passed by Commission IV of House of Representatives before being signed into effect by the Minister.

For example, on the Yogyakarta- Jakarta route, fares will rise from Rp 14,000 (U$$1.68) to Rp 24,000 ($2.89) for adults, and for kids from Rp 11,000 ($1.32) to Rp 19,000 ($2.29). The fares will also change for the Bandung, Surabaya and several other city's routes.

For taxis, the rate upon hailing a taxi has risen from Rp 2,000 (US$0.24) to Rp3,000 (US$0.36). Subsequent kilometers on the clock have raised from around Rp 400 (US$0.04) and Rp 900 (US$0.10) to Rp 1300 (US$0.15).

Journalist bashing leads to boycot of police

Budi Sugiarto/BI & LM, Bojonegoro -- For the past nine days journalists from several media organisations in Bojonegoro, East Java, have boycotted all reports and announcements from Bojonegoro Police and have now taken legal action. The beating of a local journalist at a demonstration and the contemptuous response of the police have angered the press. Their field commander said at one stage, "What do you want if the victim is only a journalist?"

On Monday, Joko Heru Setiawan, a journalist from the Radar Bojonegoro newspaper, was beaten by members of the crowd control unit from the Bojonegoro police during a protest held by residents of the Sugih Waras village had at the Bojonegoro Police headquarters. The protesters were demanding that the owner of a rice milling operation be released from detention. Caught in the action, the riot police allegedly fired rubber bullet at the protestors and turned on Joko. He was beaten and his camera was confiscated. During the ordeal Joko suffered facial injuries.

The next day, a group of journalists arrived at the Bojonegoro headquarters to inquire about the incident. The Bojonegoro Police Chief, Superintendent Endang Sofyan said that his officers might have been under stress. Endang then apologised for his subordinates' behaviour.

The group then approached the Head of the Operations Command Control Center, Senior Inspector Sunardi, who they believed to be ultimately responsible for the incident. When Sunardi was asked who was responsible for the bashing, he replied by asking the journalists, "What do you want if the victim is a only journalist?" The response from Sunardi then snowballed into a continuing boycott.

On Wednesday, several journalists filed a lawsuit against the East Java Police Chief, Gen. Dai Bachtiar. They also demanded an investigation of the perpetrators.

Suharto's funds: where money came from, where they went

Jakarta -- Following are summaries of a government report, obtained by Kyodo News, on the flow of funds at seven charity foundations created and chaired by former Indonesian President Suharto while in power.

The information is contained in the indictment on corruption charges filed against Suharto, scheduled to be read by the prosecution during the trial Thursday.

Yayasan Beasiswa Supersemar:

• Established May 16, 1974
• Objective: to give scholarships to clever but poor students
• Initial asset: 10 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: 1.23 trillion rupiah from the government, private institutions, individuals, and others; 309.76 billion rupiah from 2.5% of net profits of central bank, Bank Indonesia, and state banks, based on a 1976 government order and a 1978 finance minister decree. TOTAL: 1.54 trillion rupiah.
• Where the money went: $419.59 million to Bank Duta owned by some Suharto allies to cover the private bank's loss; 13.17 billion rupiah to the now-bankrupt private airline PT Sempati Air owned by Suharto's sons Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and Sigit Harjojudanto and close ally Muhammad Hasan, at Hasan's request to increase the company's capital and to be used as down payment for the purchase of aircraft; 150 billion rupiah to timber companies PT Kiani Sakti and PT Kiani Lestari owned by Hasan; 12.75 billion rupiah to timber companies PT Kalhold Utama, PT Essam Timber and PT Tanjung Redep Hutan Tanaman Industri owned by Sigit and Hasan; 10 billion rupiah to Kosgoro Group owned by Suharto's allies to buy shares of Kosgoro Building.
• Total: 186.34 billion rupiah.

• Established August 8, 1975
• Objective: to improve the welfare of orphans, homeless, invalid and aging people
• Initial asset: 10 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: 1.23 trillion rupiah from the government, private institutions, individuals and others; 310.21 billion rupiah from 2.5% of net profits of state banks based on a 1976 government order and a 1978 finance minister decree. TOTAL: 1.54 trillion rupiah.
• Where the money went: 11.17 billion rupiah to Sempati Air; 150 billion rupiah to Kiani Lestari; 12.75 billion rupiah to Kalhold Utama, Essam Timber and Tanjung Redep Hutan Tanaman Industri; 10 billion rupiah to Kosgoro Group; 3 billion rupiah to PT Indonesian Finance and Investment Co., mostly owned by Sigit; 7 billion rupiah to the now-frozen private bank PT Bank Umum Nasional, partly owned by Hasan, to buy shares in the bank.
• Total: 193.92 billion rupiah.

• Established June 8, 1985
• Objective: to uphold the state ideology and the 1945 Constitution through education and better public welfare
• Initial asset: 1 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: 952.23 billion rupiah from the government, state-owned enterprises, including the National Logistics Agency and the Japanese-funded Asahan Autorithy Agency, private automobile company PT Astra International, and individuals.
• Where the money went: 17.91 billion rupiah to Sempati Air; 150 billion rupiah to Kiani Sakti; 24.23 billion rupiah to Kalhold Utama, Essam Timber and Tanjung Redep Hutan Tanaman Industri; 10 billion rupiah to Kosgoro Group; 125.68 billion rupiah to Bank Umum Nasional; 64.31 billion rupiah to Umum Nasional in the form of time certificates and clearing accounts; 135.42 billion rupiah to Bank Pesona Kriyadana.
• Total: 527.55 billion rupiah.

• Established Jan. 15, 1996
• Objective: to accelerate fair income distribution and poverty alleviation
• Initial asset: 250 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: 4.56 trillion rupiah from 2% of income taxes paid by Indonesian and foreign individual and corporate taxpayers with income over 100 million rupiah annually, based on 1995 and 1996 presidential decrees and a 1996 finance minister decree; 100 billion rupiah from reforestation funds based on two presidential decrees in 1996; 300 billion rupiah from a government family planning project fund created by Suharto.
• Total: 4.96 trillion rupiah.
• Where the money went: 112.72 billion rupiah to the now- liquidated private bank PT Bank Andromeda owned by Suharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo; 330.09 billion rupiah to the now-frozen private bank PT Bank Alfa owned by Bambang.
• Total: 442.81 billion rupiah.

• Established August 23, 1986.
• Objective: to help the victims of natural disasters.
• Initial asset: 1 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: 37.19 billion rupiah from state-owned enterprises, including State Electricity Co., Garuda Indonesia airline and Bank Negara Indonesia; 51.45 billion rupiah from individuals and private companies. TOTAL: 88.64 billion rupiah.
• Where the money went: Bank Alfa.
• Total: 1.25 billion rupiah.

• Established May 2, 1963
• Objective: to give scholarship to children of soldiers who died in a campaign against Dutch colonialists in Papua in 1963.
• Initial asset: 25,000 rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: state-owned enterprises, private institutions and individuals. TOTAL: 26.41 billion rupiah.
• Where the money went: 3.57 billion rupiah to Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Foundation owned by Suharto's late wife Tien Suharto; 3.5 billion rupiah to the donors' board of the Purna Bhakti Pertiwi museum owned by Tien.
• Total: 7.065 billion rupiah.

• Established Feb. 17, 1982
• Objective: to finance the establishment of mosques
• Initial asset: 45 million rupiah
• Where the contributions came from: voluntary contribution by civil servants. TOTAL: 78.98 billion rupiah.
• Where the money went: PT Purna Wira Danu Perkasa, PT Serambi Puri Alami and PT Isa Pratama owned by Suharto's allies.
• Total: 1.97 billion rupiah.

For Indonesia, right or wrong

Vaudine England -- It is hard to find a mention of East Timor -- the province that got away -- in daily conversation or reporting in Jakarta. But it's not hard to find the reason why. Almost one year since the East Timorese voted for independence, Indonesian feelings remain bitter and sometimes twisted.

Many individual Indonesians will agree with foreign friends that East Timor has a right to be free, the human rights abusers should be punished and that East Timorese refugees must be able to freely choose a future.

But feelings of victimisation, anger and denial run strong. Many Indonesians were kept ignorant about their own nation's behaviour in East Timor for years, so they understandably feel wrongly attacked for something they had little to do with. Once attacked, the impulse is to unite on nationalist grounds.

Except for a daring minority, the Indonesian reaction to outside censure is a case of "my country, right or wrong". It would be hard to find a country in a war-like situation which did not react likewise -- as a glance at London's tabloids during the Falklands War would show.

Coupled with patriotism are decades of propaganda, in which many Indonesians truly felt they were helping out the under-developed, backward outer provinces such as East Timor, only to have such generosity hurled back in their faces. "After all we did for them ..." is a common refrain when East Timor's defiant vote is discussed.

One year on, a Sumatran man working in Irian Jaya spoke genuinely when asked how he felt as an Indonesian about the "loss" of East Timor: "We were all very upset." And some middle-class Indonesians also insist that Xanana Gusmao, the likely future president of East Timor, is actually "a terrorist".

Coupled with the propaganda is the state of national insecurity many feel these days. Violence continues in the Maluku, in Aceh, Irian Jaya, Kalimantan, and concerned helplessness is easily turned outward into blame on outsiders. "You have to admit," said one Indonesian friend, educated abroad and working in publishing, "that your countries -- Australia, America -- are all just trying to break Indonesia up, aren't they?"

The indignant attitudes one encounters is a shock at first, then a challenge. The standard international view of Indonesia's relationship with East Timor begins with Jakarta's invasion in 1975 and its misguided development efforts married to brutal repression for a quarter of a century. It is crowned by the still unpunished violence and petulant viciousness after last year's August 30 independence vote.

"Jakarta might now admit it has lost the province, but it is not being very gracious about it. They are being stubborn and bureaucratic," said a Western diplomat engaged in talks about East Timor with Jakarta's Department of Foreign Affairs. Another senior diplomat said: "None of the lessons of East Timor have been internalised at all among the Indonesians."

Recent events in United Nations-administered East Timor, and Indonesian West Timor, have reinforced that international frustration. Freshly uniformed, armed and well-trained bands of Jakarta-backed militias are once more operating inside East Timor. A New Zealand and a Nepalese peace-keeper have been killed in skirmishes with militias near the border, and security is tight ahead of the vote and vote-result anniversaries.

A constitutional amendment passed in Jakarta just over a week ago provides a cloak of immunity for any Indonesian -- such as the 33 top officers named in Indonesia's own human rights inquiry -- from prosecution for crimes committed in the past, such as war crimes. But naturally, the Jakarta sagas of domestic politics and tug-of-war between president and vice-president have monopolised the headlines.

Men such as the now-retired General Wiranto continue to feel wronged. "Everything is clear. There were victims, witnesses ... so actually it is very easy to resolve," the general said after formal questioning on rights abuses in East Timor during his tenure as armed forces chief. "What makes it difficult is because ... we treat the East Timor incident as if it were very big.

"What happened [to me] is due to a wrong perception and deviations in the East Timor case," he said, adding that violence "is not new" to East Timor and that he had actually been efficient in mediating and quelling the fighting. "The unrest was put to an end in five days. This was our achievement because we were able to avoid a civil war and managed to protect vital facilities."

Former Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono has rejected any need to "apologise for our mistakes", telling The Australian newspaper that Indonesia had been "too good" in agreeing to hold a ballot in East Timor in the first place.

And then there was the national news agency Antara, in a report last September picked up by local TV, claiming that international troops had attacked eight Indonesians and burned one to death. A pro-Indonesian source was quoted saying: "The white pigs did all these things to my men." Such reports were denied and perhaps forgotten, but they found a ready audience for a while.

To this day, perhaps increasingly, the United Nations is regarded as a fundamentally biased body, which sided with the East Timorese against Indonesia, thereby invalidating any role it thinks it now has in East Timor.

The most common question heard by UN staff is, "Why did the United Nations cheat?" A UN source believes current attacks on UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) staff in West Timor are because of the "UN" prefix to their name. "We're seen as hopelessly biased. People tell me it's we foreigners who are spoiling everything. It's horrible, horrible," the UN source said.

The fate of the few Indonesians supporting the Jakarta-based non-governmental organisation Solidamor, which backs East Timorese independence, has also been uneasy. In a mysterious attack on its offices, Solidamor leader Coki Naipospos was stabbed and hospitalised, three others were injured, and documents were stolen. To foreign rights groups the inference was clear -- the Indonesian military was continuing its cycle of revenge.

War-mongering talk is common in the militia-controlled refugee camps in West Timor, and all international relief agencies tending the 100,000 East Timorese still stranded far from home have cancelled all programmes following brutal attacks on their staff.

The latest of 150 such attacks was on three staff from the UNHCR. One had his head held under water in a rice paddy until he choked. All three suffered severe injuries to the head and body and required hospital treatment. The UNHCR's local driver was held in a building by the suspected militia, threatened and kicked in the face for 20 minutes before he managed to escape with a broken nose.

Indonesia says the only solution is to close the camps, but it has so far been short on detail. Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities responsible for security in the camps have yet to make a single arrest, and now pro-Indonesian militia have set up roadblocks along the border inside Indonesian West Timor to further obstruct refugee and general transport commitments signed by Indonesia and the international community.

But it's not easy for the well-intentioned leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid, and some of his compatriots. Mr Wahid has embraced independence leader Xanana Gusmao and apologised to the East Timorese -- to howls of protest once he returned to Jakarta.

He does not control all of his armed forces, and a strong strand of public opinion prefers denial to the notion that Indonesia might bear some responsibility for the dire state of East Timor. Indonesia also conceded recently that it cannot fully control its border with East Timor. "We have been quite open about this problem ... we cannot give 100 per cent control," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Sulaiman Abdulmanan.

The differing worlds in the mind are easily seen in local news coverage from West Timor, which is part of the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), where many residents are wondering how longer they must put up with the strains caused by the refugees when they are themselves are short of money.

According to a report in the NTT Ekspres newspaper on June 30: "The NTT governor stated that NTT province is the victim of international politics ..." The occasion was when militia attacks on staff at last forced a UN suspension of refugee assistance.

On the same day, the Surya Timur newspaper reported from West Timor's capital Kupang: "The Governor of NTT confirmed that Indonesia is not begging for assistance from UNHCR. Indonesia is a country which has dignity.

"Since the result of the referendum, Indonesia has voluntarily provided humanitarian assistance and solved humanitarian problems ... International organisations should be able to control their emotions. [The governor] questioned what kind of organisation would suspend a humanitarian mission due to a small tumble on the way."

Reporting in Jakarta is more balanced, but also focuses on the amount of money Indonesia is spending on helping the East Timorese refugees, who have inexplicably found themselves in such a mess. Reports in the respected Tempo news weekly note that efforts are under way to resume trade between the two countries, and Indonesia is giving 162 scholarships for East Timorese to continue studying in Indonesia.

"Oh yes, I think the Indonesians have learned a lot from East Timor," said one sardonic diplomat. "The Indonesian Defence Forces have learned that the militia tactic is indeed a strong one. The politicians have learned never to let a president make a decision like that again [former president Bacharuddin Habibie's referendum offer]. The public is rather sheepish and blame either Habibie or outsiders. And the foreign affairs department [Deplu] is still very recalcitrant. Every time Wahid wants to make a concession, it goes into negotiation at Deplu and gets knocked about.

"There's a concern in the diplomatic community that these people in Jakarta are basically stalling because Untaet [the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor] is only in situ for one more year, and then it will be back to Jakarta negotiating directly with the East Timorese. It's a very cynical game."

A UN source felt that the mood at Deplu had improved in recent months and that some progress was being made. "But the situation is obviously appalling. We are very, very tired of hearing reassurances [from Jakarta] and seeing nothing happen on the ground. It is tremendously regrettable." In this context, neither the Indonesians nor the international community in Jakarta are sensing any of the celebratory mood soon to sweep through East Timor.

One killed, six injured in Bali riot

Denpasar -- One person was killed and six others injured yesterday when police opened fire to disperse protesters on the resort island of Bali.

The unrest occurred in the district of Jembrana, 95 kilometer west of Denpasar, when the protesters rallied against the inauguration of a new administrator in Negara, the capital of Jembrana.

Most of the demonstrators were supporters of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). They were angered by the recent election of Gde Winasa as Jembrana regent, claiming he had bought votes ahead of the August 14 poll.

About 1,000 people gathered outside Kesari Meeting Hall, aiming to disturb the inauguration ceremony. Members of the crowd waved banners, chanted slogans and made speeches.

Police were deployed around the hall to prevent the mob from entering. But the angry protesters insisted on getting inside, where some of them began to damage furniture and decorations.

Terrified local government officials and their guests skedaddled to safer places, while the mob chased Gde Winasa and local legislative assembly speaker I Wayan Mawa. When the crowd began stoning the two politicians, police opened fire, reportedly only using rubber bullets.

One of the protesters, I Gusti Ngurah Sena (40), was shot dead and half-a- dozen others were badly injured. Bali Governor I Dewa Made Beratha was on his way to Jembrana when the incident erupted. Informed of the violence, he changed his mind and returned to Denpasar. Despite the death and injuries, the protesters had succeeded -- the inauguration ceremony was failed to take place.

Jembrana Police Chief Superintendent Aan Iskandar said the shootings were in line with standard procedures. "It was done to protect state officials," he said, adding his personnel had only used rubber bullets.
 

Environment/health

Riau forests plundered with official backing

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru -- Protected forests at Bukit Suligi in Kampar regency, Riau province on Sumatra's west coast, are being plundered without local authorities lifting a finger and even supporting the illegal industry. Latest estimates put losses in excess of Rp 152 billion (US$18.24 million) in lost government revenue from reforestation fees and environmental damage alone.

The problem of illegal logging has been long acknowledged as a major problem in Riau, a resource rich province which has lately seen the emergence of a pro-independence movement. The movement was primarily motivated by a desire to keep revenues from resources in Riau. The provincial government only received 2% of the $8.4 billion in revenues it sent to Jakarta last year. Per capita income in the province stands at only $500 despite the fact that the Caltex refinery alone produces more than the entire output of Brunei.

Forest resources are also extensive. In terms of forest cover, Riau covers the fourth largest area in Indonesia. The Bukit Suligi area, 150 kms from the capital Pekanbaru, alone covers 30,000 hectares. It is estimated 5,000 hectares have been stolen and that in 5 years the forest there will be gutted beyond recognition.

"The theft of Riau's protected forests is plain for all to see. The forestry authorities close their eyes. Crooked members of the apparatus are involved and back up the theft. In 5 years time, the forest will be totally destroyed," said Andreas Hery Khahurifan of the Indonesian Forest Research Foundation (LPBI) when contacted by Detik, Sunday.

From investigations undertaken by the Foundation, the state has not been able to claim reforestation compensation, usually extracted at a set amount per hectare from companies holding forest rights, to the tune of Rp 54 billion (US$ 6.48 million). They also estimate the environmental damages to the state at Rp 98 billion (US$ 11.76 million).

"I will never stop wondering why the thieves have never been caught in the act," Andreas said distressed. "The creatures and plants are dying out because of the plundering of these thieves," he added.

Besides the immediate destruction, the most frustrating thing was the fact that the forests had not been developed for environmental tourism considering that they are home to Sumatra's rare tiger, various kinds of deer, monkeys, butterflies and other amazing flora and fauna.

There were also waterfalls, hot natural springs, active volcanoes and beautiful little lakes and rivers. The flowers, he said, were truly breathtaking and grew wild in abundance. "It won't take long, and all this natural beauty will be utterly ravaged," Andreas said.

In Riau there are currently around 60 companies with forestry concession rights and many hundreds more with wood felling permits, a small-scale version.

The problem, however, is not only keeping an eye on these companies with numerous outposts in often remote areas. The main problem was the sheer size of Riau's forests -- remaining forests cover an estimated 7 million hectares.

Officially, around 2.5 million cubic meters of wood is logged per year by companies holding permits but the demand for wood reaches around 10 million cubic hectares, fuelling the illegal trade and creating underground supply avenues.

"In this kind of situation, where demand outstrips supply the plundering of wood resources is arbitrary and driven by greed. It can no longer be pushed under the carpet, if indeed the two pulp factories in Riau, PT Riau Andalan Pulp&Paper (RAPP) and Indah Kiat Pulp&Paper, are accepting the stolen wood. I'm sure at this stage that the theft will only stop when Riau has been stripped bear," said Andreas bitterly.
 

Economy & investment

Government not seeking major changes in reform program

Jakarta -- The Cabinet's new economic team is not seeking major changes in the International Monetary Fund-sponsored economic reform program, Bank Indonesia acting governor Anwar Nasution said here on Thursday.

"There will be no major changes in the [IMF] program," he said following a meeting between the new economic ministers and representatives of multilateral institutions, including the IMF.

Anwar did not specify what changes would be made, but he said government spending would focus on empowering the poor and developing infrastructure in rural areas.

"The changes don't mean go to hell with the IMF," he said. "It is entirely wrong for you to label Rizal as anti-IMF. He's a pro- market person just like me," he added, referring to Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli.

Rizal's past criticism of the IMF-supervised economic reform program has earned him the reputation of being anti-IMF. Soon after his appointment as the country's new economic czar last Thursday, Rizal said he wanted to see some changes in the IMF economic program and in the role of multilateral institutions in the country.

In a phone conversation with IMF deputy managing director Stanley Fisher earlier this week, Rizal again expressed his intention to review the reform package because conditions had changed considerably since the last review of the program was undertaken in June. Talk of changes to the IMF-sponsored economic program has unnerved the financial market over the past several days, causing the rupiah to decline against the US dollar, albeit slightly. But most analysts believe the government will not make major changes to the reform program.

The deputy director for the IMF in Asia Pacific, Anoop Singh, arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday to discuss with Rizal and other members of the economic team the planned changes. But Singh declined on Thursday to comment on the meetings, saying he would hold further discussions with Rizal on Friday.

Singh, however, did say the IMF and the new economic team had reached a "basic agreement". In a joint media conference with representatives of multilateral institutions, Rizal said the Cabinet's new economic team remained committed to the IMF reform program and would even step-up its implementation to accelerate the country's economic recovery.

"There's a new enthusiasm that Indonesia can recover quickly with the support of multilateral institutions ... We are looking forward to an improved implementation of the program," he said.

In response to Rizal's statements, Singh said: "You told us that you want to accelerate Indonesia's recovery; we support this. Second, you have told us that you intend to intensify the implementation of the economic program ... we support this. You want to increase ownership of the program; we support this ... We want to convince you that the IMF will fully support the new economic team," Singh said.

The World Bank country director for Indonesia, Mark Baird, said: "It's clearly very important for Indonesia to push ahead with the implementation of the reform program as quickly as possible ... particularly in corporate restructuring.

"I think what would come from this is not only growing confidence in the market that Indonesia is on the path of recovery, but also a real benefit to the people of Indonesia.

Anwar said a delay in the next disbursement of the IMF loan to the country would not affect Indonesia's balance of payment. "I think any delay of the IMF board meeting would only be around two weeks. It's surely not the end of the world for us," he said.

Rizal has asked the IMF to delay its board meeting, initially scheduled for Thursday, to allow the new economic team to study the letter of intent (LoI) sent to the IMF by the previous economic team in late July. Rizal said the new team wanted to study the conditions of the LoI in order to work out a plan to increase the country's ownership of the program.

The IMF board must approve the LoI, which basically outlines the economic programs to be implemented by the government within a certain time period, before it disburse its next loan tranche of about US$400 million.

The IMF pledged in January some $5 billion in bailout funds to help finance the country's three-year economic reform program. So far, the IMF has disbursed about $700 million of this promised money.

Separately, noted economist Emil Salim supported Rizal's intention to review the present economic reform program. "The present LoI was signed by the old economic team. Rizal's team is new, so it's only normal that he would want to review the agreement," he said. He added that economic conditions had changed since the previous economic team and the IMF signed the LoI.

IMF warns public debt could derail economic recovery

Jakarta -- Indonesia's huge public debt is likely to derail its economic recovery, the IMF's Jakarta representative John Dodsworth said Tuesday, urging the new cabinet to make the debt burden its main focus.

Addressing a seminar in the Indonesian capital, Dodsworth predicted the state budget would be burdened by the massive debt over the coming years. He referred specifically to the need for the government to allocate a substantial amount of funds for interest payments on bank recapitalisaton bonds.

Dodsworth said the cabinet was expected to present a new "complex" budget to parliament in October, giving the new team very little time. "For the last couple of years, we've said let's have stimulants [through budget expenditure], let's try to move the economy back to recovery," he said. "But that is going to work only for a certain length of time when you have such a large public debt," Dodsworth added.

He said that in the next few years, "the government would have to consolidate its structured budget deficit." "There will have to be, I think, some medium term planning on how you tackle it."

However he said such moves would be "very difficult political decisions." In case of subsidies, for instance, "how do you protect the poor people, while you're reducing the subsidy?" "This is something that needs to be planned in the medium term," he said.

Dodsworth said the also needed to downsize the civil service while increasing government employees' wages. "But there are so many people in the civil service. It is very difficult to do that particularly if you are on a consolidation track, he said.

Civil service reform he said was "a very complex issue, one which will be politically difficult, but actually has to be grasped," Dodsworth said.

He nominated raising taxes as one way of consolidating the structured budget deficit. "It is probably true that Indonesia has a very low tax to GDP ratio. But the problem is not the design of the tax system, but the administration problem,", he said, conceding that tax rises were also politically difficult.

Dodsworth also pointed to the rationalisation of capital expenditure as another way of addressing budget expenditure. "Capital spending has been cut largely because there have been very wasteful expenditures in the past. So people are quite comfortable with cutting capital expenditure," he said.

"But there are clearly limits to this. Infrastructure needs maintenance and resources are required to do this. This is another decision this government needs to consider," he said.

Indonesia's total external debt, including government and private sector debt, is estimated at 144 billion dollars, an amount roughly equal to the country's annual GDP of 160 billion dollars, according to Indonesia economic expert Jeffrey Winters.

RI to form agency to speed up privatization

Jakarta -- Indonesia will set up a new agency to oversee state companies in a bid to speed their privatization, chief economics minister Rizal Ramli said yesterday.

"We are setting up a new agency to supervise state companies. The agency will be directly under the supervision of the chief economics minister," Ramli told reporters. "We hope that with the new agency, policies regarding the privatization can be made faster and can be carried out more effectively," Ramli added.

Ramli said the agency would be run by a board consisting of the ministers who oversee state companies, such as the finance minister, the trade and industry minister, the energy and mining resources minister and the forestry and plantation minister.

Indonesia's state companies were previously supervised by the minister of investment and state enterprises. But that ministry was dissolved when President Abdurrahman Wahid appointed a new cabinet last week.

Former investment and state enterprises development minister Rozy Munir said earlier this year the ministry was targeting Rp6.7 trillion (US$779 million) in revenue from the sale of state shares in eight firms next year.

Munir also said the government planned to sell shares in nine more state firms this year, on top of eight firms already slated for privatization, if the government seemed in danger of falling short of its Rp6.5 trillion privatization target in 2000.