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DATE=2/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA-WIRANTO (L)
NUMBER=2-259113
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Indonesian security minister and former armed 
forces chief General Wiranto has won a reprieve from 
being fired from the Cabinet.  But as Correspondent 
Gary Thomas reports from Jakarta, the reprieve may be 
brief.
TEXT:  General Wiranto has won the battle to remain in 
President Abdurrahman Wahid's Cabinet - but his 
victory many be short-lived.
Under an agreement (reached Sunday), General Wiranto 
will stay on as security minister pending an 
investigation by Attorney General Marzuki Darusman 
into the General's alleged role in human rights abuses 
in East Timor.
Mr. Darusman told V-O-A he expects his probe to be 
wrapped up quickly. 
            // DARUSMAN ACT // 
      Well, I will be trying to settle this issue
      within the week - if that is possible, yes.
            // END ACT //
President Wahid called for General Wiranto to resign 
after he was named in a government commission report 
as condoning human-rights abuses following East 
Timor's independence vote in August.  General Wiranto 
has refused to resign.
            // REST OPT FOR LONG //
The confrontation between the president and his 
security minister was a major test for Indonesia's 
first democratically elected government in more than 
40-years.  The military has traditionally held great 
power in Indonesia.
Mr. Darusman said he expects the issue of East Timor 
and human rights to be a key topic of discussion when 
U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan arrives this week.  
East Timor is currently being run by a U-N 
transitional administration.
            // DARUSMAN ACT //
      I think that will be a major point of discussion 
      because I think we are well aware the 
      international community is continuously putting 
      its interest on this matter.  And therefore it 
      is understandable that we may have to clarify 
      the position of the Indonesian government.
            // END ACT //
A U-N report on East Timor, finished about the same 
time as the Indonesian government report, calls for an 
international tribunal to try cases in both Indonesia 
and East Timor.  But Indonesia insists on handling 
such cases in its own courts.
A new draft law on human rights, that includes 
establishment of an Indonesian human-rights tribunal, 
is pending, but work on it may not be complete for 
several months.   (SIGNED)
NEB/GPT/RAE
13-Feb-2000 13:03 PM EDT (13-Feb-2000 1803 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.