Global Policy Forum

By Daniel Cooney

Jakarta - Protesters stoned the U.N. compound in Jakarta, calling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan a puppet of Western countries as he arrived Tuesday for talks with Indonesian officials.

About 100 people threw stones, eggs and tomatoes at the UN office to protest Annan's visit. They blame the United Nations for the outcome last year of a U.N.-sponsored vote that led to East Timor's split from Indonesia. "We oppose Kofi Annan because he is a trumpet of Western countries," one of the protesters, Zulkifli Tarigan, said before police arrested him.

Annan's visit came a day after President Abdurrahman Wahid ended a showdown with his powerful security minister by suspending him. Security Minister Gen. Wiranto - who was armed forces chief when East Timor was gripped by violence in the aftermath of the independence vote on Aug. 30 - has been blamed for allowing the mayhem to occur. Wiranto, who like many Indonesians has only one name, denies responsibility for the violence and maintains he did his best to prevent it.

Wahid has ordered Indonesia's attorney general, Marzuki Darusman, to conduct an investigation into Wiranto's alleged role in the bloodshed.

"I'm very pleased those responsible for atrocities in East Timor will be made accountable," Annan said at Jakarta's airport. Annan, who is visiting Indonesia as part of a wider Asian tour, will meet Wahid on Wednesday. He is also scheduled to hold talks with Darusman.

Much of East Timor, a former Indonesian province, was devastated and hundreds of people died during violence by pro-Jakarta thugs in September. UN officials and human rights investigators have accused Indonesian soldiers of inciting the rampage, which ended with the arrival of international peacekeepers on September 20.

East Timor is now being administered by the United Nations as part of its transition to full independence. A UN human rights commission has recommended an international tribunal - similar to those for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - be set up to try Indonesia's leaders.

Wahid, who assumed office in October, has repeatedly rejected this, insisting his government should prosecute military officers for human rights crimes in East Timor.

Annan, as well as many Western governments, appear willing to give him a chance. "I suspect the Security Council will not rush to set up a competing international tribunal," the secretary general said Tuesday. "We should let the judicial process take its course."

Darusman said Tuesday that charges will soon be brought against a high-ranking military official in connection with the violence. However, he said it was too early to name the person or detail the charges.