Letter: Funds for brutality

Sir: It is truly disturbing to read that the Indonesian troop withdrawal from the occupied territory of East Timor has been nothing more than a sham.

Two scenarios now present themselves.One is that President B J Habibie was not sincere when he promised the troop reduction and there is little difference between him and his mentor, the odious General Suharto. The other is more sinister. If Habibie was sincere and troop levels have not reduced following his instruction, we have a de facto military junta in Indonesia who are using a very sophisticated approach to fool the world into thinking that they are prepared to bring about political reforms.

Either way, I now understand the nature of Indonesian terrorism in East Timor following the very excellent reports of your correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry.

KARL HAYDEN

Dublin