Joanna Jolly, Dili – Arrest warrants could soon be issued for middle-ranking Indonesian military personnel suspected of involvement in crimes against humanity in East Timor last year.

East Timor's chief prosecutor, Mohamed Othman, said last week the United Nations' Serious Crimes Unit was finalising investigations into five cases of violence last year involving 140 suspects, including middle-ranking Indonesian military officers. Arrest warrants will be issued for all those accused.

"You have, in these forthcoming indictments, the people who did the actual killings and also the commanders who are responsible for these attacks," Mr Othman said. "We think in these five cases we will be able to reach definitely the district military leadership, maybe the regional, maybe the bupatis [local mayors] involved."

The first five cases include the attack in April last year on Liquica church, the murder of nine clergy and an Indonesian journalist near Los Palos in September and an attack on Maliana police station in which about 50 independence supporters were killed after the UN-sponsored referendum last August.

Mr Othman said the strategy behind proceeding with these cases was to investigate a range of suspects with different levels of responsibility for the violence. He said he hoped this eventually would lead to prosecutions against senior Indonesian generals who have been implicated in the violence.

"You could charge someone higher up for the conduct of subordinates so we think that if we first put into the docks those who are the district commanders, then it is definitely logical that you will go higher up," he said.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in April by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (Untaet) and the Jakarta Government, Indonesian nationals can be extradited to East Timor to face trial.

But Mr Othman said that in reality it may be difficult to bring suspects to East Timor, especially if they were already being investigated by the Indonesian court system.

Indonesia is conducting its own investigation into the violence in East Timor last year through the Attorney-General's office in Jakarta. To date no indictments have been made, although a list of 25 possible suspects has been released.