JAKARTA, July 16 (AP)--East Timor's last Indonesian-appointed governor on
Friday vowed to resist efforts to imprison him over the 1999 violence there, as
prosecutors urged him to surrender to authorities.

Prosecutors had said Abilio Jose Soares would be taken to a Jakarta prison
Friday to begin a three-year sentence over the violence that erupted in East
Timor when it voted to break away from 24 years of Jakarta rule.

But Soares told the Associated Press he was in Kupang in the far east of the
archipelago on Friday and had no intention of coming to Jakarta to begin his
sentence.

"I am not guilty of any crimes in East Timor," he said. "The military should
be made responsible because I was a civilian governor. The international
community understands that."

Up to 2,000 people were killed and much of East Timor was destroyed in 1999
by rampaging Indonesian troops and militia proxies which they armed and
trained.

Soares - who is ethnic East Timorese - is the first Indonesian official to be
punished out of 18 mostly military and police officials originally tried over
the bloodshed. He was found guilty of failing to prevent the violence.

Twelve other defendants were acquitted. Three others have had their sentences
overturned on appeal. Appeals in the cases of two remaining defendants are
expected soon.

Attorney General's office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said he was surprised to hear that Soares was in Kupang and claimed his lawyers had informed prosecutors he would cooperate.

"I hope that Abilio will abide by the law," he said. He declined to say what
would happen if Soares didn't comply with prosecutors' demands.

Indonesia came under intense pressure to punish those responsible for the
1999 violence in the months that followed it, and pledged to bring the
offenders
to trial.

Critics say Jakarta has failed to live up to its promises, and international
rights groups have called on the U.N. to convene an international tribunal to
try those responsible.

U.N. officials and human rights groups have blamed Indonesian security forces
for the mayhem, which only ended with the arrival of international
peacekeepers.