Indonesian President Suspends Security Chief Pending Probe

In a surprise reversal, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Sunday suspended his powerful security minister, Gen. Wiranto, from the Cabinet over his alleged role in last year’s bloodshed in East Timor.

Upon his return home after a 16-day foreign tour, Wahid met with Wiranto and said the minister would remain in the government while the attorney general’s office conducts an inquiry into the violence that followed East Timor’s vote for independence Aug. 30.

But late Sunday night, the president--who has been known to frequently make strong statements on issues only to ignore them later or change his stance--told Indonesian reporters that Wiranto would be suspended during the probe.

Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony of his replacement, Surjadi Soedirdja, Wiranto said today that he accepted the president’s decision to suspend him from the Cabinet.

Military chief Adm. Widodo Adisutjipto said the military supported the decision as well.

Wiranto has been accused by Indonesian and U.N. human rights panels of failing to prevent the violence as commander of the country’s armed forces. Hundreds were killed and much of the province devastated in attacks by anti-independence militants.