Jakarta – Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Tuesday Indonesia would ignore UN indictments of former armed forces chief Gen.(ret) Wiranto along with six other generals for crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody independence vote in 1999, AP reported.

"He is a free man ... Why take action?" Hassan said on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hassan said the government would "simply ignore" the indictments, and insisted there was no need to take action against Wiranto. "Who gave [the UN] the mandate to indict Indonesians, under what basis, what authority?" he asked.

The response came a few hours after UN prosecutors said in a statement that the seven military officials and a former governor of East Timor have been indicted with "crimes against humanity for murder, deportation and persecution."

Topping the list of indictments was Wiranto, who has long been named as the man most responsible for the bloodletting that swept the former Indonesianterritory when its citizens voted for independence in the UN-sponsored referendum.

The six others are Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, Maj. Gen. (ret)Kiki Syahnakri, Maj. Gen. Adam Rachmat Damiri, Brig. Gen. Suhartono Suratman, Brig. Gen. Noer Muis, Lt. Col. Yayat Sudrajat and former governor Abilio Soares.

Tuesday's indictment accuses the men of involvement in 280 killings in 10 separate attacks.