Assault on reporter probed

JAKARTA: Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung has ordered an investigation into last week's attack on a Suara Timor Timur journalist in Dili.

"The police will handle the case," Tanjung told journalists here yesterday.

Earlier this week, Minister of Information Harmoko urged the authorities in East Timor to take action against members of the Pemuda Pancasila youth group who allegedly beat up journalist Jacobus Herin and ransacked the newspaper's editorial office.

The attack was reportedly carried out by eight people on the order of Ahmad Alkatiri, chief of the organization's local chapter. He was offended by the paper's report on his alleged involvement in a land dispute that broke into a physical clash with a local gang. (pan)