Dear Mr. President Abdurrahman Wahid,
　　 Mrs. Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri,

Indonesia is a big country and defense chief Gen. Wiranto is a giant. "We are sorry for the victims and will pray for them." "We ask for forgiveness from people who feel we did wrong, from the victims, from the students," that Mr. Wiranto said in conciliatory speech.

We though the speeches are touching to the Indonesian and East Timorese.

Wiranto pleads for forgiveness

Indonesia's top general encourages civilian, military cooperation

JAKARTA ---
In a surprisingly conciliatory speech, defense chief Gen. Wiranto asked for forgiveness yesterday for brutal crackdowns on dissent and said divisions between the military and the people must be over come.

Wiranto had been considered a top candidate for vice president until he dropped out shortly before Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected to the No. 2 post last Thursday by the 700-member People's Consultative Committee.

It is unclear if he made a deal for a top position in exchange for his withdrawal, but there is speculation he will not retain his post when new President Abdurrahman Wahid announces his new Cabinet in the next few days.

He would not comment on his prospects, telling reporters after his speech: "The best man will hold the post."

Wiranto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, has been touted as a special adviser to Wahid on military issues, with the name of Navy chief of staff Achmad Sutijipto mooted as his possible successor as defense chief.

Wiranto was giving a speech to about 10,000 soldiers and riot police who were brought into Jakarta to safeguard the assembly as it held its first free and open session after decades of acting as a rubber stamp for past authoritarian leaders.

The security forces were involved in several clashes with protesters, largely students, that left dozens injured and several dead.

"We are sorry for the victims and we will pray for them," Wiranto dressed in fatigues, told the security forces, including about 20 generals, who gathered in a soccer stadium about 500 meters from parliament.

"We ask for forgiveness from people who feel we did wrong, from the victims, from the students."

The soldiers and police, who had been boisterous, sat quietly, then bowed their heads as Wiranto prayed for the victims and then held 30 seconds of silence for them.

The powerful military has long had strong influence in the political process that critics have urged should be curtailed. In addition to violence against protesters, it has been blamed for supporting pro-Jakarta militias that went on a rampage in East Timor after the territory voted to break away from Indonesia.

Wiranto called for internal reform within the military and the police force and said they must join together with the people to work toward developing poverty-stricken Indonesia.

The national reform process, which followed the ouster of President Suharto in May 1998 after 32 years of autocratic rule, has been successful so far, he said.

Gusmao fears deaths as Timor rains start

DILI, East Timor, Oct. 25 ---
Pro-Jakarta militias have committed systematic looting, rape and killing in an East Timorese enclave, a U.N. official said Monday, while returning refugees were reportedly attacked as they left Indonesian territory.

"There has been systematic intimidation, killings, a number of rapes and people being forced over the border," U.N. humanitarian affairs officer Patrick Burgess told AFP here after visiting the enclave of Oekussi.

Multinational peacekeepers stormed ashore the coastal enclave inside Indonesian West Timor on Friday.

Burgess said Oekussi town, which was previously home to 11,000 people, was devoid of people, vehicles and even animals.

After speaking to about 50 residents who had returned from the surrounding mountains, Burgess heard first-hand accounts of an orgy of violence and terror.

"The militias have been coming into the area every day around seven in morning," he said. "They loot and pillage and, in general, threaten the population.

"There have been a number of people killed and women raped, and then they go out at five in the afternoon. It is like a commute."

Residents said the militias had removed all cows, pigs and goats, as well as all vehicles with the excepting of one motorcycle.

Burgess said nearly all buildings in the enclave had been destroyed, with the only structure left intact the church in Oekussi town.

REMEXIO, East Timor, Oct. 25 ---
East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao said on Monday he feared deaths among hundreds of thousands of refugees would rise with the onset of the rainy season.

Gusmao told Reuters the fate of the refugees in camps in West Timor and internally displaced East Timorese still hiding in the mountains was probably his main concern.

"I'm worried about the refugees who have yet to return home from West Timor and also about our (internally displaced) people inside East Timor," he said.

"We have in large part surrendered the responsibility for solving that problem to the international community and international agencies.

"(But) we're concerned that humanitarian assistance may not arrive in time for the rainy season which is due to start soon and it is very likely that many people will die."

U.N. agencies are leading the relief efforts in East Timor and workers for the U.N. World Food Program said at the weekend there was enough food for the population until the next harvest.

Dressed in civilian clothes at the guerrilla base at Remexio in the mountains an hour north of the capital, Dili, Gusmao made no mention of disarming his guerrilla force, which is what U.N.-mandated multinational troops in East Timor have said they want done.

He said he foresaw his troops ultimately being integrated into a regular army.

"We foresee that Falintil (Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor) will be integrated into a future security structure and eventually into a regular army," the commander said.

East Timor was savaged by pro-Jakarta militia violence in September after the population voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a U.N.-supervised referendum.

Unresolved problem

An Australian-led multinational force known as INTERFET began deploying into East Timor five weeks ago to restore order and support humanitarian operations.

What to do with the pro-independence Falintil fighters is one of the many unresolved problems facing the international community, whose military and civilian representatives will guide East Timor to full independence over the next three to five years.

Armed Falintil soldiers are remaining within INTERFET - approved cantonment areas and show every sign of being a disciplined force with virtual unanimous support among the East Timorese people.

Unlike pro-independence guerrillas in Kosovo who have earned a reputation for brutality and extra-judicial murder rivaling that of their Serb oppressors, Falintil has relatively clean hands after 24 years of struggle.

The United Nations plans to train and equip a civilian police force for East Timor, an organization in which many Falintil guerrillas might find a home.

We are concerning about the "Asia's democracy" would create higher stability in Asia and make new era of Indonesia's prosperity

We support President's new peaceful program about Indonesian.