Joanna Jolly, Dili – Hundreds of people commemorated the anniversary Friday of Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, as speakers demanded justice for 24 years of brutal occupation.

Meanwhile in Washington, newly released documents showed for the first time that the US administration at the time had approved the attack. "War crimes have been committed here since 1975. There is international justice for Bosnia and Rwanda – why not in East Timor," said Aniceto Guterres, head of a human rights body that sponsored the rally.

The gathering in a park in the East Timorese capital, also included a photo exhibit depicting torture and killings allegedly committed by Indonesian troops during the occupation that ended in 1999 after a UN-sponsored independence referendum. Up to 200,000 people – a quarter of East Timor's population – died in the guerrilla war that followed the invasion on December 7, 1975.

There was a minute of silence for the dead and many of those present wept as prayers were read. Later, flowers were laid in the city's port, where hundreds of civilians were executed on the day of the invasion.

The commemoration came just a few hours after a US research group published previously classified documents showing that former US President Gerald Ford and then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger approved the planned invasion when they discussed the issue with President Suharto.

In Oslo, East Timor's foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta said the East Timorese had long been aware that the Ford administration gave Suharto the green light for the assault. "This has been said many times. We already knew this," the Nobel peace laureate said in a telephone interview.

Despite its support for Suharto, the US government never formally recognized Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. After Suharto was ousted amid massive pro-democracy protests in 1988, his successor B.J. Habibie agreed to resolve the festering issue by asking the United Nations to organize a plebiscite in the province. The referendum resulted in an overwhelming vote for independence.

Since then, Washington has become one of the biggest aid donors to the fledging nation, which is due to achieve full independence next May. The US government has given 100 million dollars to the UN administration currently governing the territory, and an additional dlrs 25 million has been approved by Congress.