Jakarta – A cemetery for Indonesian servicemen in East Timor's capital Dili has been converted to a cassava farm, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara said Friday.

Maj. Gen. William Da Costa, a military commander overseeing West Timor, said the Seroja Cemetery in Dili's Santa Cruz district was supposed to be protected by local authorities as agreed between the Indonesian government and the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

But Da Costa said the cemetery was razed by bulldozer, leaving it difficult to identify any individual remains, to make way for a cassava plantation. "We expect that Xanana [Gusmao] could help have the remains of Indonesians, who died in wars in East Timor, recovered so they can be buried with members of their respective military units," Da Costa was quoted as saying.

Gusmao is the leading contender for president of East Timor, which is to gain independence May 20. The territory's first presidential election will be held April 14.

About 5,000 Indonesian soldiers were been buried in 15 cemeteries of "heroes" throughout East Timor, more than 700 of them believed buried at Seroja.

After 350 years of Portuguese rule, East Timor briefly gained independence in 1974, but in 1975, Indonesia invaded the half-island territory and annexed it a year later, an action the United Nations never recognized. East Timor voted to split from Indonesia in a UN-supervised referendum held in August 1999.