The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 15

WORLD THE AGE THURSDAY 28 OCTOBER 1999 Justice remains elusive in the investigation of Timor's atrocities mass grave in a well at I.lquica, west of Dili, had been forced to halt their work and fill in the site for safety reasons after recovering 1 1 bodies. There were more bodies In the well but the engineers judged it was too dangerous to proceed. "The other remains were at a serious state of decomposition," he said. "A decision was made to seal the site." Compared with the resources of police forces in the West, where the investigation at a crime scene might take days, police in East Timor are stretched thin while they wait for the full 1600-strong international police force to arrive. Superintendent Castle said investigation teams were short of trained forensic specialists, pathology services and basic facilities such as refrigerators for human remains.

There were also problems in accumulating evidence. "Quite often a lot of the witnesses have disappeared and the suspects have also disappeared," he said. The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, has appointed a panel to probe suspected breaches of international human rights in East Timor. However, some analysts suspect there will be little international enthusiasm for vigorously pursuing suspects, particularly If the investigations point to senior Indonesian military figures. Australia has intelligence material linking Indonesian officers to the violence.

The Howard Government has offered to cooperate with the inquiry but some UN officials remain sceptical of the sincerity of this offer and whether Canberra will release the intelligence material. They point out that it is well known in Dill and in UN circles that Australia wants to avoid a highly By DAVID LACUE DIU Superintendent Alan Castle was at church In DU1 on Sunday when a fellow worshipper offered to show him evidence of a sin against humanity. The veteran Australian Federal Police officer, who commands the United Nations civilian police In the East Timor capital, was taken to the outskirts of the city where he found a mass grave. "There were at least three and possibly 10 bodies," he said. Superintendent Castle's investigators and military police from InterFET, the multinational peacekeeping force In East Timor, will investigate the grave and the scenes of other murders.

But what is less certain is whether Justice will be done for the victims and their families. ence may have been exaggerated, despite the displacement of about 75 per cent of East Timor's 850,000 people and the destruction of most buildings and facilities. Some Investigators now suspect no more than 200 bodies will be found. But human rights activists believe militias and their Indonesian military supporters may have removed some of the bodies. They also suspect corpses washed up on beaches may Indicate an unknown number of East Timorese were dumped at sea when thousands were shipped to West Timor ahead of InterFET's arrival.

There could also have been further atrocities in the camps in West Timor, where the militias have been terrorising refugees. Investigating the sites is a major challenge. An InterFET spokesman, Colonel Mark Kelly, said this week that military engineers excavating a Police probing atrocities committed during the recent violence and destruction acknowledge that a lack of resources, evidence, experienced detectives, witnesses and access to suspects who had fled to West Timor would frustrate some Investigations. "Given time, people will see some justice," Superintendent Castle said. "In other cases, perhaps not." Some senior police believe prosecutions would be unlikely In most of the considerable number of cases of atrocities committed with the suspected involvement of the Indonesian military.

Since InterFET moved in on 20 September, military and civilian police have begun investigations on sites containing 95 bodies, with many more yet to be examined. This is far fewer than had been expected, leading to suggestions that earlier reports of militia viol Thai police turn 'impatient' dogs on farmers Talks aim to lieal rift with Wahid Australia's ambassador has his first meeting with the new leader. By LINDSAY MURDOCH INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT. JAKARTA Indonesia and Australia have agreed to work slowly to repair relations that collapsed over Canberra's leadership of the multinational forces in East Timor. Australia's ambassador in Jakarta, Mr John McCarthy, described a 45-minute meeting with Indonesia's new President, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, yesterday as positive.

"The relationship is in enormously better shape than it was three or four weeks ago and I think that both sides realise that we have to move forward in a measured way," he said. "It was a good thorough talk about the relationship, about how it may develop in the future." The two men, who had what insiders described as a difficult meeting several weeks ago, agreed yesterday that education and business were two key areas where initiatives could work. During the earlier meeting, Mr Wahid, a strong nationalist, apparently refused to accept Mr McCarthy's assurances that Australia was acting in good faith over East Timor. The Howard Government has been sharply critical of the Indonesian military's sponsorship of anti-independence violence in East Timor and the virtual destruction of the territory's infrastructure during rampages by Indonesian police, visible role in the human rights Investigations after antagonising Jakarta by leading InterFET and providing many of the troops. There are also doubts about the willingness of a future East Timorese leadership to take a tough line with Jakarta.

The man expected to become the first leader of an independent East Timor, Mr Jose "Xanana" Gusmao, said on Saturday that it was Important to bury the past, as he signalled a willingness to build a new relationship with Jakarta. While serious doubts remain about whether the extent of the violence will ever.be known or that justice will be done, hardened police such as Superintendent Castle have been shocked at what they have seen. "I am horrified at the wanton cruelty that has been shown," he said. "It's just plain evil." Picture REUTERS BRIEFS States vow to keep Yugoslavia intact BELGRADE. The ruling parties of Serbia and Montenegro agreed yesterday to work to keep Yugoslavia intact and prevent another civil war in the Balkans.

But rival Montenegrin and Serbian officials apparently failed to agree on how the troubled Yugoslav federation should be restructured. Montenegro, Serbia's smaller partner in Yugoslavia, wants more independence from President Slobodan Milosevic's regime, which is under international sanctions. The former Yugoslavia, which once consisted of sue republics, broke up in a series of civil wars beginning in 1991 after Mr Milosevic tried to quash independence movements. Portugal backs down on Macau LISBON. Portugal gave way to China yesterday on allowing Chinese troops into Macau, and other disputes linked to its handover, on the first day of a state visit by China's President Jiang Zemin.

Just after Mr Jiang's arrival on the latest stage of a six-nation tour, foreign ministers from the two countries worked out a deal to let a squad of People's Liberation Army troops into the tiny gambling enclave ahead of its 20 December return to Chinese sovereignty. Life on Earth a billion years older LONDON. Life flourished on Earth at least a billion years earlier than has previously been thought, according to scientists who reported on Tuesday on studies of iron-rich rock formations dating back 2.3 billion years. Chief scientist DrHiroshi Ohmoto, who is professor of geosclences and director of the 1 Pennsylvania State Astroblology Research Centre, said: "Until now, the earliest accepted date for land-based life was 1.2 billion years ago, but now we can push that back at least another billion years. Of course, terrestrial life back then was more in the nature of bacterial mats than oak trees and mammals." A police dog attacks a line of Mahathir blasted for bid to avoid stand in Anwar trial Soldiers exhume the body dfifc murder victim in Dili.

BANGKOK Thai riot police turned dogs on thousands of tapioca farmers blockading Government House yesterday, injuring 14 people. Police moved to break up the protest after demonstrators, who have been surrounding government offices for 24 hours, crossed a bridge leading to the entrance of the building, witnesses said. Dog handlers advanced on a line of women pickets and 14 protesters were bitten or scratched as other demonstrators pelted police with mud, leaders of the demonstration said. Police General Sant Sarutanond denied the dog handlers overreacted. "Protesters beat and kicked the dogs and the dogs just ran out of patience," he said.

"The patience of a dog is a little less than that of a policeman." Tapioca growers are demanding Government action to check falling prices of their crop. They held an all-night protest after talks broke down with the Deputy Commerce Minister, Mr Paitoon Kaewthong. Most of the protesters rolled into Bangkok in farm vehicles from impoverished northern provinces. They are demanding that the Government buy the tapioca they produce at 1.2 baht (three cents) a kilogram instead of the current market price of 0.85 baht. More talks were due to be held later.

Officials say the tapioca market is suffering a glut of produce this year and the price demands of the farmers are impossible to meet. Lord Lucan finally declared dead LONDON. Lord Lucan, the quintessential British earl who vanished without trace after the murder of his family's nanny in 1974, has finally been officially declared dead, The Times reported yesterday. The High Court in London ruled that Richard John Bingham, Earl of Lucan, had died "on or since the 8th day of November Lord Lucan has not been seen since 7 November 1974, the night the family nanny, Ms Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe by an intruder at the earl's London residence. When his wife went to investigate, the intruder attacked her, too.

Police. -believe Lord Lucan had intended to murder her and killed the nanny by mistake. Israeli magnate suspected of plot JERUSALEM. Israeli media magnate Ofer Nimrodi is suspected of plotting to murder two rival publishers in a spectacular case that has sparked allegations of police corruption and blackmail. Details of the complex case were splashed across the front pages of Israeli newspapers, including Mr --Nimrodi's own, after the lifting of a court-imposed gag order on the investigation.

Mr Nimrodi, 42, publisher of the country's second i biggest-selling newspaper Maariv, is suspected of conspiring to murder the publishers of rival Hebrew dailies YediotAharonotmdHaaretz, according to police sources. He has vehemently protested his Innocence. Wild boar invade Polish dty i WARSAW. A mob of wild boar has Invaded a city on the Polish' German border In search of food, digging up parks and terrorising tourists, officials said yesterday. An official In Swinoujscie, in the north-western comer of Poland, said: "The boar have dug up all the grass on the historic promenade and some have even shown up in front of city hall." Pledge to reopen Suharto inquiry By CRAIG SKEHAN BANGKOK A leading Malaysian defence lawyer, Mr Karpal Singh, has castigated the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for attempting to avoid courtroom cross-examination over an alleged political conspiracy against his sacked deputy, Mr Anwar Ibrahim.

He said it was "quite wrong" of Dr Mahathir to think he was above the provisions of the law. "The Prime Minister has not got the right to decide what questions he answers," Mr Singh said. soldiers and pro-Jakarta militias. Mr Wahid, who was elected last week, told Mr McCarthy that good relations with the emerging nation of East Timor would be a major objective of his foreign policy. He said on Tuesday that he was willing to meet the East Timorese leader, Mr Jose "Xanana" Gusmao, who returned to the territory last week for the first time since his 1992 arrest.

The meeting is likely to take place in Jakarta soon. Indonesia's highest legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly, ratified East Timor's independence last week, ending Jakarta's rule of the former Portuguese territory. Mr Wahid has been one of the harshest critics of Australia's East Timor policy. His comments helped whip up anti-Australian sentiment across the country. But the almost daily demonstrations at the Australian embassy in Jakarta stopped last Wednesday, the day Mr Wahid was elected.

"There are things we can do to put things back in shape in the overall relationship," Mr McCarthy said. "Let us move forward in tandem." Mr Wahid said on Tuesday that his Government would not move immediately to mend fences with Australia but wanted a cooling-off period. He did approve the appointment of a new ambassador to Canberra, Mr Arrizal Effendi. The post had been vacant since last month as a diplomatic snub. The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, and the Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, have not made plans to travel to Indonesia to meet Mr Wahid.

Instead, they are adopting a go-slow approach to mending ties. withAAP is believed to have put enormous pressure on Dr Habibie's administration to drop investigations by the former Attorney-General, Mr Andi Ghalib. The investigations centred on charities built up by Mr Suharto with public funds. Mr Ghalib announced earlier this month that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the claims. Mr Darusman said it was crucial that the bank scandal and the Suharto corruption issue were solved "properly and transparently so that the message is clear we will not tolerate any monkey business any The International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank suspended loans to Indonesia when leaked documents revealed a company linked to Golkar siphoned $92 million out of the nationalised Bank Bali.

Four people, including the former Bank Bali head, Mr Rudi Ramli, have been detained in the case. By LOUISE ROBSON LONDON Bye bye bare breasts, hello women readers. Page 3 pin-ups in Mr Rupert Murdoch's best-selling British tabloid The Sun could be about to fall victim not to the wishes of feminists, but the power of market forces. According to news reports, powerful lobby of Sun executives Is pushing for the removal of the ban-chested beauties who have been the paper's trademark since hs first birthday In 1970. i Nearly 30 years and 16,000 By LINDSAY MURDOCH JAKARTA Indonesia's new Government plans to confront two political bombshells in its first days in office corruption allegations against former President Suharto and a $100 million banking scandal linked to the traditional ruling party, Golkar.

On his first day as Attorney-General, Mr Marzuki Darusman, a reformist in Golkar, pledged to reopen investigations into Mr Suharto's charities and pursue investigations into the Bank Bali scandal. "The intention is to reopen the (Mr Suharto) case and have it brought to court," Mr Darusman told a business lunch. The former Government of Dr B. J. Habibie was criticised for failing to pursue corruption allegations against Mr Suharto, whose family and cronies amassed fortunes during his 32-year rule.

Mr Suharto, who is bedridden after a stroke, says he is innocent and by tapioca farmers in Bangkok. as abuses of power aimed at crushing dissent. Last week the judge presiding over the sodomy case, Justice Arifin Jaka, issued a subpoena for Dr Mahathir to appear in court today. However, it has not yet been served and the Prime Minister is not expected in court before the middle of next week. Defence lawyers have claimed that Dr Mahathir conspired with other government leaders and senior officials to have charges laid after Mr Anwar's dismissal in September last year.

Claims of an attempt to poison Mr Anwar in prison with arsenic were not substantiated by independent medical tests. Dr Mahathir said on Tuesday that he would appear in court and make himself available for a pre-appearance interview by defence lawyers if required to do so. "Even if they want to interview me, I want to know what questions, whether they are relevant to sodomy or not. I don't think they can summon me on things like conspiracy and arsenic poisoning." Mr Singh said yesterday: "What he (Dr Mahathir) is doing is quite For a start, witnesses are not supposed to be making comments to the press." Asked if Dr Mahathir would be cross-examined on the conspiracy allegation, Mr Singh said: "Of course, maris part of the defence." bimbos retention of Topless Tracy and her well-endowed sisters, saying that -without them the paper's core readership of working-class men would go elsewhere. But there may be a compromise.

Market research shows women object to pin-ups In passive poses but are less likely to take offence at an Image that shows a self confident, powerful individual. So It might not be the end of nudity, but maybe there'll be a few more women with a bit more front and a bit up top. AAP picketing women at the protest "The judge decides questions of relevance, not him." Mr Anwar, who is serving a six-year prison term for alleged interference in police investigations, is facing a charge of sodomy along with his adopted brother, Mr Sukma Darmawan. The tussle over attempts to force Dr Mahathir into the witness box is becoming highly politicised because national elections could be held as early as next month. Mr Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah, is leading a new political party that accuses Dr Mahathir's Government of corruption and nepotism as well expressed their disapproval.

The Sun fought off a 15-year campaign to ban its pin-ups, which ended with the defeat of Labor MP Clare Short's 1986 Indecent Displays (Newspapers) BUI. ki UBut Is a financial and not a feminist argument that could finally win the day. The Sun has recently toned down Its page '3 pictures and announced plans to expand its Women section and run more female-focused features throughout the piper In a quest for women readers. The old guard In the newsroom are backing' the I Anwar Ibrahim: Wants the Prime Minister to testify at his trial. The Sun may be setting on Rupert's page 3 bosoms later, page 3 girls are under threat from an antl-tlts-and-bums camp led by deputy editor Rebekah Wade.

The page 3 debate dominated a summit of Sun executives, and It -was reported yesterday that Mr Murdoch has met the. Sun editor. David Yelland, Ms Wade, and News International's executive chairman Les Hlnton to thrash out the Mr Murdoch has been under pressure for years to drop the page 3 His former wife, Anna Murdoch, his daughter Elisabeth and his new wife, Wendl Deng, have all Prim Minister Blair? Amusad. IAA All.