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East Timor terror: 18 named

Indonesia
A controversial report to the U.N. blamed East Timor violence on officers of the elite Kompassus units  

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia is ready to prosecute 18 men, including senior army and police officers, over the bloodshed in East Timor after it voted for independence in 1999.

A spokesman for the attorney-general's office said Wednesday that prosecutors had investigated 12 cases involving 18 suspects.

Among them was notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres, former provincial military chief Tono Suratman and other high-ranking officers.

"We will be ready for trial as soon as the supreme court and justice ministry sets up the ad hoc court," Mulyohardjo told reporters, referring to a special court to be set up for cases involving East Timor and a massacre in Jakarta.

He did not give further details.

After East Timor voted overwhelmingly to end Indonesia's military rule, pro-Jakarta militias backed by Indonesian soldiers and police went on a rampage, killing hundreds, razing the territory and herding more than 300,000 people into Indonesian West Timor.

Indonesia has faced heavy international pressure to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice.

Guterres, whom supporters and some nationalist legislators regard as a patriot, already stands accused of inciting violence in West Timor last year.

The North Jakarta court is scheduled to reach a verdict on Monday.

Reuters contributed to this report.



RELATED STORIES:
Indonesia sets up Timor war crime court
April 24, 2001
Indonesia blamed for Timor terror
April 20, 2001

RELATED SITES:
United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
Human Rights Watch

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