Mr Wiranto was the armed forces chief when army-backed militiamen
waged a bloody campaign against independence supporters in the territory,
which was then controlled by Indonesia.
"On 10 May, 2004, an international judge at the Special Panel
for Serious Crimes in East Timor issued an arrest warrant for retired
General Wiranto," the Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) said in a statement.
The East Timorese court decision comes just days after the retired
General Wiranto burst back onto the political scene.
Wiranto won the presidential nomination of the Golkar Party, the
party of former dictator Suharto, for the poll on July 5.
He will team up with an Islamic leader Solahuddin Wahid, a deputy
chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) which claims 40 million followers,
the Golkar Party announced on Monday.
Golkar won the parliamentary election on April 5 after pushing
President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party into second place.
Analysts said Solahuddin would strengthen Wiranto's chances because
he can deliver votes from NU and from the closely-linked National
Awakening Party (PKB).
"God willing, we will win the presidential election on July
5 with 24 million votes owned by Golkar and 12 million votes from
PKB besides the support from ulemas (Islamic scholars)," the
state news agency Antara quoted Golkar leader Akbar Tanjung as saying.
Wiranto charges
Special prosecutors in East Timor say Wiranto had command responsibility
for breaches by his security forces when soldiers, police and militiamen
were involved in bloody attacks on independence supporters.
"The issuance of the Wiranto warrant is an important step
in our continuing efforts to bring to justice those responsible
for the violence against the civilian population of East Timor in
1999," said deputy general prosecutor for serious crimes, Nicholas
Koumjian, in the statement.
"It sends a message that the victims have not been forgotten
and that the international community will not tolerate impunity
for those responsible for crimes against humanity, whoever they
are."
He was charged with command responsibility for murder, deportation
and persecution "committed in the context of a widespread and
systematic attack on the civilian population in East Timor."
The attacks killed an estimated 1,400 people.
The United Nations-funded SCU said that under international law,
commanders are criminally responsible if they knew of crimes committed
by subordinates and failed to prevent them.
Wiranto says he did his best to minimise bloodshed in 1999. His
lawyers say the charges are an attempt to derail his election.
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