Jakarta – The Indonesian distributor of Time magazine censored photos of headless corpses in Borneo in the weekly's latest Asian edition, fearing they might incite more violence, officials said Wednesday.

The cover image, shot by Associated Press photographer Charles Dharapak, shows a Dayak man standing in front of two decapitated corpses, both victims of ethnic violence that erupted in Borneo last month in which more than 450 people died.

Parts of that image and others inside were blacked out by hand in all copies sent to Indonesia for distribution.

Distributor PT Indoprom Indonesia said it was under no pressure from the government to censor the pictures.

"We blacked out the pictures ourselves," said spokesman Wahyu, who like many Indonesians only uses one name. "We didn't want the situation to deteriorate when people read the magazine." Indonesian publications reported on the Borneo violence extensively, but didn't run any graphic photos. Grisly images of decapitated adults and children have been circulating widely on the Internet, however.

Since dictator Suharto was toppled from power in May 1998, the Indonesia media has enjoyed greater freedom. However, certain topics, especially those involving religious or ethnic conflicts, are still treated with caution.

Jason Tedjasukmana, a Time writer in Indonesia, said he was surprised to see the blacked-out photos and was worried that they might herald a fresh wave of censorship. "This is something new. This is disturbing," he said.