Sydney – Indonesia should be left by the international community to pursue allegations of human rights abuses against its military in East Timor, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.

Downer also told ABC radio here the Australian government supports Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's handling of the allegations against officers including former military chief, General Wiranto.

Wiranto is among 33 military, police and militia commanders accused by a state-sanctioned human rights inquiry of culpability for "crimes against humanity" over the orchestrated campaign of murder and destruction in East Timor last September.

"The general view of governments, and I think it's an appropriate view, is that the Indonesian system should be given the opportunity to take the process forward first and foremost," he said. "That is the standard that's applied in international law more generally."

Speaking from Davos in Switzerland, Downer said Wahid had clearly indicated to him that his government was serious about bringing the perpetrators to justice. "And obviously in that respect we support the president," he said.

"The details of how he manages the politics of Indonesia, I can assure you, are a matter for him, not us."

Downer also doubted rumours of an impending coup against Wahid following his announcement that he would demand Wiranto's resignation from cabinet.

"There hasn't been any real change in our assessments in the risk of a coup in Indonesia over the last few months, including you know, right up until the moment I am talking to you," Downer said.

"That is that there are all sorts of rumours around in Indonesia about this issue and there have been for quite a long time. But we don't have any information to show that a coup is more likely now than it was, say, a week, a month, three months ago."