An Indonesian prosecutor has proposed that controversial human rights trials be moved to Dili, the capital of neighbouring East Timor.

Prosecutor Gabriel Simangunsong says it is difficult to get witnesses from the fledgling country to testify in Jakarta.

According to the state Antara news agency, the prosecutor was replying to the judges who had asked why it was so difficult to get East Timorese witnesses to testify.

At the trial of East Timor military chief Brigadier General Tono Suratman, Mr Simangunsong said that none of the East Timorese witnesses had given him a reply as to whether they were willing to testify.

Earlier, at the same court, a separate trial of Lieutenant Colonel Endar Priyanto, a former Dili district military chief, had to be postponed following the absence of witnesses from East Timor. None of 12 witnesses summonsed – including Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Bello – appeared in court.

Priyanto is accused of gross rights violations by failing to prevent or halt several incidents of violence by pro-Indonesian militias in April and September 1999.

The AFP news agency said it was not clear why the witnesses failed to appear, but in earlier cases some potential East Timorese witnesses expressed fears for their safety while in Jakarta.

Priyanto and Suratman are two of 18 military and police officers, government officials and civilians who have been on trial for gross human rights violations related to the violence in East Timor in 1999.

The court has already acquitted a police general and five army or police officers and sentenced a former governor to just three years in jail, sparking widespread criticism here and abroad.

In 1999, militias created and supported by Indonesian military elements waged a campaign of intimidation before East Timor's August 30 vote for independence from Jakarta and took revenge fterwards. At least 1,000 East Timorese are estimated to have died with whole towns were burnt to the ground.