May 25, 2004

East Timor's President Gusmao May Meet Indonesian Foe Wiranto

Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto, a retired general accused of condoning human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, is expected to meet East Timor President Xanana Gusmao this weekend to discuss the alleged abuses, a Wiranto spokesman said Tuesday.

Muladi, a member of Wiranto's campaign team, told reporters an "informal meeting" will take place on Bali on Saturday during which they are expected to discuss the human rights violations before and after East Timorese voted to separate from Indonesia in 1999.

According to Muladi, the meeting, which follows a meeting between Gusmao and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on May 15, was proposed by Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's senior minister and minister for foreign
affairs and cooperation.

"Wiranto wants a reconciliation," said Muladi, who was a justice minister under the 32-year rule of strongman Suharto.

He added, however, there has been no "formal" deal on the reconciliation issue between Gusmao and Wiranto, who was the armed forces commander in 1999 when pro-Indonesia militia, supported by the military, ran amok in East Timor.

Earlier this month, an international judge at the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in East Timor issued an arrest warrant for Wiranto for crimes against humanity committed under his watch in 1999.

Wiranto was indicted in February last year, as were seven senior co-accused.

The indictment charged him with command responsibility for murder, deportation and persecution committed in the context of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian populations in East Timor in 1999.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the 1999 violence and 200,000 people were internally displaced or forcibly relocated to Indonesian-ruled West Timor.

Buildings and infrastructure were destroyed throughout the former Portuguese colony.