Jonathan Thatcher, Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday backed his controversial former top general Wiranto, but said he would have to step down if found guilty of human rights abuses in East Timor.

If Wiranto, now coordinating minister for political and security affairs, did have to quit Wahid said he would in return try to shield him from any international tribunal.

Asked if he had confidence in Wiranto, he told a small group of foreign reporters: "Of course, yes. As long as he is not proven guilty, I believe in him."

There has been repeated speculation Wahid's relations have soured with Wiranto, who shot up through the ranks during the rule of disgraced former President Suharto and who is seen as allied to anti-reform elements in the still powerful military.

Wiranto was military commander during last year's ransacking of East Timor by pro-Jakarta gangs, with military support, after most of the population voted to break from Indonesian rule.

He and other senior Indonesian officers have always denied any role in the wave of violence in East Timor in which most of the population was displaced, hundreds killed, and much of the infrastructure – built up during 23 years of Indonesian rule – destroyed.

Wiranto was questioned last month by a government-sanctioned commission looking into human rights abuses in East Timor. The interview's contents have not been made public.

"If [the commission chairman] names Wiranto as a culprit then ... I'll ask him to resign from the government," Wahid said. In exchange, he said he would do his utmost to make sure that there is no international tribunal on the matter.

Last week, United States UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke accused the military of being uncooperative with probes into atrocities in East Timor.

"The Indonesian generals should know that their own efforts to thwart internal accountability and openness and inquiry are only going to result in greater [international] pressure," he said.

He warned that high-ranking officers were "going to bring the whole house down if they persist in obstructing this."

There have been repeated warnings to Jakarta of an international commission into the events in East Timor last year if the Jakarta government fails to take proper measures to make those involved accountable.