Word: suhartos
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...Gusmao began a career as a journalist and watched with satisfaction as the Portuguese finally retreated from East Timor. But peace was short lived; the following year Indonesian President Suharto ordered his troops to invade. Gusmao joined the resistance, fleeing into the mists of the heavily forested mountains that run the length of the island. By 1981 he was leader of the resistance--and for Indonesia's special forces, the most wanted man in the country. Gusmao eluded capture until 1992. But on a secret trip to Dili, a contact betrayed him, and the rebel leader was arrested...
...Timor's future: "Whoever is afraid of the referendum is afraid of the truth." He quickly became one of the world's most prominent political prisoners, writing poetry and letters to keep the dream of independence alive. In 1997 Mandela visited and called for his release. A year later, Suharto's successor, B.J. Habibie, surprised everyone--particularly his own military--by taking up Gusmao's challenge of a referendum on full independence for East Timor. And when Indonesia lost the vote, the generals unleashed their armed militias on the Timorese people for two weeks of blind terror...
...could remain in office pending the outcome of an official investigation into his role in last year's East Timor violence. The standoff had fueled rumors of a coup against Wahid, who had asked for the resignation of Wiranto - the military leader who engineered the ouster of former dictator Suharto - while on a two-week world tour pitching Indonesia to foreign investors. But Wahid appears to have moved skillfully and stealthily to isolate his security minister from his former comrades in arms, courting generals and reshuffling the top command to the point where Wiranto would have been unable to order...
...most challenges thus far to his presidency - an office he acquired only by his supreme skill at backroom politicking. Despite finishing a distant third in last spring's polls, Wahid managed to shut out the presumptive president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, by cobbling together a voting bloc of Islamic parties and Suharto supporters, and then immediately headed off the violent reaction in the streets by naming Megawati as his deputy. But while he's almost improbably acquired the support of the military against Wiranto, keeping the generals on board could prove a tough challenge. With separatist and religious violence threatening to break...
...Wiranto, the military and Megawati aren't the only ones with axes to grind - former Suharto supporters both in the military and in the private sector are threatened by the new government's anti-corruption efforts. But Wahid is a wily politician whose coalition-building skills were evident last year when he shut out Megawati for the top job despite his relatively tiny share of the electoral vote. And until now, he's kept his opponents off balance and divided through skillfully alternating between concessions and challenges. Still, his looming showdown with Wiranto may prove to be his toughest battle...