Jakarta – The Japanese-born wife of Indonesia's first president Sukarno has accused former president Suharto of having prior knowledge of the 1965 coup attempt and doing nothing to prevent it, a report said Thursday

"Suharto knew about it," Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno, born Naoko Nemoto, told the Jakarta Post in an interview coinciding with the anniversary of the failed 1965 coup. Dewi said Suharto – then head of the army's strategic command – had been fully informed about the planned assassination of six top generals on the night of September 30, 1965, as part of a plot to topple Sukarno. Despite having the information Suharto had done nothing to stop the move, said Dewi, who married Indonesia's first president Sukarno in 1962 as his fifth wife.

The Jakarta Post also quoted former Colonel Abdul Latief, 73, who has been jailed for decades for his role in the coup, as saying that he had personally informed Suharto about the plan to kidnap the generals a few days before it happened. "Suharto gave a cool response to my report... Suharto knew precisely of the plan," Latief told the Jakarta Post from Jakarta Cipinang prison.

Dewi pointed out that it was very strange that during the coup attempt the rebels did not target Suharto, who in his position was the second highest ranking officer in the army.

Soldiers, led by several officers taking part in the coup, kidnapped six generals from their homes on the night of September 30, 1965. They also shot dead the infant daughter and an adjutant of another general who escaped the kidnap attempt. The bodies of the six men were later found in a disused well in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta.

Suharto, who led the military's counter coup campaign and later rose to the presidency, accused the then powerful Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) of being behind the uprising. The PKI was banned in March 1966 and a purge of suspected communists and supporters left hundreds of thousands dead and millions imprisoned.

Dewi, who was in Indonesia when the coup took place, said her husband was at the time confused about the situation. She refuted Suharto's allegations that her husband also knew of the coup attempt.

With Suharto's resignation on May 21, there has been mounting clamour for a review of the 1965 incident to discover what really happened. During his 32 year rule, Suharto and his government have always maintained the Beijing-backed PKI was behind the coup.