Sydney – An Australian coroner on Thursday issued a warrant of arrest for a retired Indonesian cabinet minister in an inquiry into the death of five journalists in East Timor 32 years ago.

The coroner said that while the arrest warrant for Mohammed Yunus Yosfiah had no jurisdiction outside Australia, it was an indication of how crucial he was to the inquiry into the deaths of the men known as the "Balibo Five".

The inquest has heard testimony that Yosfiah, then an officer in the Indonesian army, was seen shooting at the five British and Australian television reporters as he led an attack on the East Timorese border town of Balibo in October 1975.

Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch stressed that issuing the warrant did not mean Yosfiah had done anything wrong.

"It's an indication of how seriously I regard the necessity of having him here," she told Glebe Coroner's Court in Sydney. "It is probable that he will not appear to be examined unless compelled to do so."

She said four letters asking Yosfiah to appear had been sent to him via the Indonesian Embassy in Australia without success, and that the Australian government had made a separate request for him to give evidence at the inquest.

Jakarta maintains the journalists were killed in crossfire during a skirmish ahead of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, but their families insist they were murdered and there was a cover-up.

Yosfiah, who rose to hold the post of Indonesia's information minister in the late 1990s and is now a retired general, has admitted leading the attack on Balibo but denied involvement in the deaths of the journalists.

"This is not the first time – and I do not think it will be the last time either – that they are attacking me. My answer remains unchanged," Yosfiah said last month, adding that he had "never seen those journalists."

The inquest is specifically examining the death of one of the Balibo Five, British journalist Brian Peters, at the request of his sister.

Peters and fellow Briton Malcolm Rennie were working for Australia's Channel Nine in East Timor when they were killed, while Australians Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart and New Zealander Gary Cunningham were working for Channel Seven.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony, a month after the killings, and East Timor achieved full independence only in 2002.