Ex-Australian PM says not warned of Timor invasion

Sydney - Former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam said Tuesday he had no advance knowledge of an Indonesian military operation in East Timor 32 years ago in which five Australian-based journalists died.

The 90-year-old former leader of the Labor Party, who was in office from 1972-75, testified for three hours at the inquest into the death of cameraman Brian Peters at the East Timor border town of Balibo in October 1975.

Officials maintain the so-called "Balibo Five" died in crossfire during a skirmish ahead of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor but their families insist they were murdered and that there was a cover-up by Canberra and Jakarta.

Whitlam denied he had prior intelligence warning the journalists would be targeted by the Indonesian military in Balibo, Australian Associated Press reported.

He also said he had no recollection of diplomatic cables warning that the Indonesian military was massing for an incursion into East Timor just before the men were killed.

Whitlam said he learned of the men's deaths on October 21, five days after they were killed, and never saw cables sent before that date suggesting they had been executed by the Indonesian military.

Asked whether anyone told him the five journalists had been killed on the orders of the Indonesian military, Whitlam replied: "No."

He told the hearing he had twice warned a member of the group, cameraman Greg Shackleton, not to travel to East Timor because there was nothing his government could do to protect them there.

"I warned him the Australian government had no way of protecting him or his colleagues," Whitlam said.

"I assumed Greg Shackleton would have taken notice of my warnings. I assumed he would have warned his colleagues. It would have been very irresponsible if he didn't, then he would be culpable."

Deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch warned lawyers at the inquest on Monday that they could not question Whitlam about any potential cover-up because the issue went beyond the parametres of her inquiry.

Outside the court Shackleton's widow, Shirley, described Whitlam's evidence as "bizarre" and said it had little value as he claimed he could not remember vital details.

Shirley Shackleton, who has led a decades-long campaign to find the truth behind her husband's death, also dismissed Whitlam's statement that he warned her partner about travel to East Timor.

"He is totally despicable," she told reporters.

"Dead men can't tell stories, so it's left to their poor old wives to do it for them."

Agence France Presse

Indonesian witness completes fate of Australian media

Sydney - An Indonesian marine said five Australian-based journalists killed in East Timor in October 1975 had been "completed" or finished off by the military, an inquest was told Tuesday.

The testimony came at a probe into the death of TV cameraman Brian Peters, one of five British and Australian journalists killed in the East Timor border town of Balibo on October 16 that year.

The Bhasa word "diselesaikan" became the focus of questioning as it was used to describe the fate of the media men to the witness at the time.

Via an interpreter a variety of meanings including "completed", "eliminated" and "finished off" were used to explain the word to the inquest.

Officials maintain the so-called "Balibo Five" died in crossfire during a skirmish ahead of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, but their families insist they were murdered and that there was a cover-up by Canberra and Jakarta.

The witness, a former Indonesian naval sergeant, told the inquest that two days after the newsmen were killed, he made radio contact with a marine because he was trying to learn the fate of a friend involved in military action in East Timor.

The witness, identified only as "Glebe 11", said the radio operator told him the journalists were "completed" after showing their identification.

"I was told that when the troops moved forward there were five Australians and ... that they were completed," he told the court through an interpreter.

He was questioned by counsel assisting the coroner Mark Tedeschi about the exact word, "diselesaikan", used by the operator to describe the fate of the journalists.

Glebe 11 did not know whether it could be used to mean executed but said other possible interpretations aside from "completed" were "eliminated", "killed" or "finished off".

The inquest has heard testimony from several East Timorese witnesses who said they saw the five journalists deliberately killed by Indonesian forces during the attack.

Agence France Presse