U.S. backs UN probe into Timor bloodshed

U.S. backs UN probe into Timor bloodshed

Agencies, Washington

The United States on Wednesday welcomed creation of a joint Indonesia-East Timor commission on the 1999 bloodshed in the former Portuguese colony, but made clear the necessity of a separate UN inquiry as well.

U.S. officials said coordination of the efforts was the key topic at a meeting here of Secretary of State Colin Powell, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and his East Timorese counterpart Jose Ramos Horta on Wednesday.

Hassan and Horta unveiled on Tuesday their plan for a joint commission to see if justice was meted out for the attacks by the Indonesian army and its militia allies that left 1,000 people dead in East Timor's drive for independence.

The two men, who met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York, said their initiative could make redundant his plan to dispatch a UN panel of experts. But Washington reacted coolly to any preemptive Indonesian-East Timor investigation.

Powell and the two foreign ministers made no statement after their meeting.

"I think we've seen both these things as valuable and they just need to be coordinated," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "I think our view is that working together with the UN and with them we could coordinate these things."

Boucher said Powell's meeting with the ministers centered on coordinating Annan's commission with a joint commission established by Indonesia and East Timor.

"We'll work with the UN and we'll work with them to ensure the coordination and make sure that both of these processes can contribute to finding the truth," the spokesman said.

Hassan and Horta both signaled their desire to avoid a UN inquiry. Hassan said their joint panel was "meant as an alternative to the idea of establishing a commission of experts by the secretary general."

Al LaPorta, president of the private U.S.-Indonesia Society, said the issue of accountability for past wrongs in Timor is at best a difficult, complex and possibly flawed process.

"There are good arguments for judicial accountability on both sides," the former foreign service officer said. "But based on recent research and examination, the capacity of the Indonesian judicial system is at best uneven.

"While it has been alleged there has been pressure and influence brought to bear on the Indonesian judiciary, there also are very legitimate concerns about the lack of capacity in dealing with international legal and criminal matters," LaPorta said in an interview.