``According to Gus Dur, there will be a political amnesty for Suharto,'' Teten Masduki, of Indonesian Corruption Watch, told journalists after a meeting between Wahid and 16 non-govermental organizations (NGOs) at the state guest house. Gus Dur is Wahid's nickname. ``How it will be implemented, whether it is similar to the Korean-style amnesty, was not explained,'' he added, referring to the amnesties granted to former South Korean presidents accused of corruption. Palace sources said they understood Wahid did not mean halting the probe into Suharto's alleged corruption, which has been reopened by his government, and Masduki said he thought a decision on the former authoritarian leader should involve the pe ople, through its representatives in parliament.

Wahid's newly-appointedattorney general, Marzuki Darusman, has said he will reopen the official probe into Suharto, which was halted by the previous government of President B.J. Habibie, citing lack of evidence. The move to halt the earlier official probe had sparked public furore amid accusations Habibie a long time protege of Suharto was deliberately dragging his feet. A Suharto lawyer said last week that an offer of sympathy by Wahid to solve a year-long graft probe into his client was ``lawfully improper'' and called for a political solution. ``Any settlement, especially in the form of sympathy, would be tantamount to taking the case out of the judicial system,'' said the head of Suharto's legal team, Juan Felix Tampubolon.

Wahid suggested Suharto should be made to repay the state if the probe showed he had illegally amassed a fortune.