Muis denies prior knowledge of riot

Muis denies prior knowledge of riot

JAKARTA: An Army general accused of failing to prevent riots
in East Timor in 1999 denied on Wednesday that he had prior
knowledge of the Sept. 9 riots in Dili.

Former East Timor military commander Brig. Gen. Noer Muis told
the human rights tribunal that his subordinate Lt. Col. Soedjarwo
failed to inform him of an impending attack by pro-Jakarta
militias on the residence of Dili Bishop Felipe Ximenes Belo on
Sept. 6, in which scores of independence supporters were killed.

Former Dili military district commander Soedjarwo has been
sentenced to five years in jail for failing to prevent the bloody
attack.

Pro-Jakarta militia members went on a bloody rampage before
and after the United Nations-sponsored referendum on Aug. 30,
1999, in which East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia.

Muis said the riots in East Timor were a consequence of the UN
Mission in East Timor's decision to announce the referendum
result ahead of schedule in September 1999.

"We had taken maximum precautions, but were still unprepared
due to the rescheduling," he said. -- JP