Sintong's visit provokes Aussie

Sintong's visit provokes Aussie

SYDNEY (Agencies): The current visit by Indonesian Maj. Gen. Sintong Panjaitan to Australia has sparked a controversy because many still remember him as the man responsible for the bloody incident in Dili, East Timor, four years ago.

Sintong arrived on Saturday, as a member of the advance party preparing for a visit later this year by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.

Sintong has been seconded as an aide to the minister.

He will leave on Tuesday together with other members of a high-powered delegation which has also been involved in official talks aimed at increasing cooperation with Jakarta on defense technology, AFP reported yesterday.

The news agency also reported that Sintong's visit was expected to prompt protests from Australia's East Timorese refugee community, as well as its numerous supporters in churches and civil rights groups who have frequently condemned what they see as Canberra's policy of appeasing Indonesia over East Timor.

Australian foreign affairs spokesman Paul Molloy said the government was aware of the controversy surrounding Sintong.

"But we decided to grant a visa to all members of the delegation in the view that even though Sintong Panjaitan could be considered a controversial visitor, his visit was warranted in order to prepare the ground thoroughly for the visit by Minister Habibie.

"Minister Habibie is a very important visitor and is the minister primarily responsible for technological development in Indonesia," Molloy said.

Sintong was chief of the Udayana Military Command, which oversees the security in East Timor, when troops clashed with protesters on the streets of Dili on Nov. 12, 1991, leaving at least 50 people dead.

The incident sparked an international outcry, and a military investigation held Sintong responsible for the incident along with a number of other officers and soldiers. Although Sintong was not in Dili at the time of the incident, he was considered the most senior officer responsible for East Timor affairs.

Sintong, at the time considered as one of the Army's most prominent officers with prospects of an even higher career in the military or the government, was removed from his post but remained active in the Army.

He was later sent to the United States for training and subsequently returned to Indonesia and appointed as an aide to Habibie, with an office at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, which is headed by Habibie. (emb)