East Timor's prime minister drew fire from Jakarta yesterday after resuming his call for an international tribunal to try Indonesian officers for alleged rights abuses during the country's bloody fight for independence.

　　Mari Alkatiri's suggestion had already been flatly rejected by Indonesia, and pressing the issue could complicate efforts to improve bilateral relations when the two countries meet for talks starting today in Jakarta.

　　Unlike President Xanana Gusmao and other Timorese leaders, Alkatiri has been a vocal critic of the Jakarta courts that are trying 18 senior Indonesian officials over their alleged roles in the 1999 violence, which left up to 1,500 people dead.

　　Calling the Jakarta proceedings a "theater," Alkatiri said last month that an international tribunal should be established in a neutral country.

　　Yesterday, he reaffirmed his support for a tribunal but emphasized he would not bring it up in meetings with President Megawati Sukarnoputri today unless she broached the subject first.

　　"The United Nations has an obligation to establish an international tribunal in a neutral country," he said before flying to Jakarta for a four-day visit.

　　"If Ms Megawati wants to discuss the comments I made before about the tribunal, then I will discuss them in detail," he said. "But my mission in Indonesia is not to talk about the justice system. My mission is to talk about bilateral cooperation and border issues."

　　Marty Natalegawa, an Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, said he was "perplexed" by Alkatiri's comments, adding that he thought the prime minister had retracted his earlier statements and told Indonesian authorities that he was misquoted.

　　"The Indonesian position is that this issue is one that should be addressed by national means, through our own legal process," he said. The Jakarta trials have so far acquitted 12 suspects and convicted five.