Eurico resists UN team probe over rights abuse

JAKARTA (JP): Former East Timorese prointegration leader Eurico Guterres said on Tuesday he would not submit to questioning by a UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) team probing 1999 human rights abuses in the former Indonesian province.

"I am a citizen of Indonesia ... I refuse to be questioned, to be tried by foreigners ... unless they also investigate Xanana Gusmao, the Portuguese government, the United Nations and the traitor (former president) B.J. Habibie," Eurico said after an "informal meeting" with UNTAET investigators here on Tuesday.

"They also should be held responsible for the human rights violations after the direct ballot ... not only me," he said.

Under an agreement signed by the Attorney General's Office and UN officials, both sides have the right to question witnesses in each others jurisdictions for the purpose of investigating rights abuses in East Timor.

After the two-hour meeting at the Attorney General's Office, Eurico's lawyer Suhardi Somomoeljono said "we have reached some concessions".

He also said Eurico had disclosed details of various violations allegedly committed by the proindependence camp, including its leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao.

Suhardi added that Eurico asked the UNTAET team, led by Oyvind Olsen, to carry out an impartial investigation.

Eurico is currently on trial for the illegal possession of firearms and for inciting crimes in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, last September.

Separately, East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA) foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, after meeting with Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, denied suggestions he was interfering in Jakarta's investigation into the violence in the territory.

"We're not at all interfering, we're not saying anything to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman (about the investigation) ... we're only saying that for the sake of justice and the good name of the Republic (of Indonesia), justice must be done and seen to be done."

Claiming that the meeting was a courtesy visit, Horta welcomed the efforts of the Attorney General's Office, while warning that the eyes of the world were on the investigation.

Horta would not comment on the possibility of Gusmao being questioned, saying that such a decision would have to be made by East Timor officials.

"Xanana Gusmao is internationally respected and he is a hero for the East Timorese ... beyond that, I should not comment any further." (bby)