Justice for the victims of Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor appeared more remote than ever on Tuesday after the two nations’ leaders said they would draw a line under the past and forge a relationship focused on co-operation.

The declaration pre-empts the recommendations due next month of a commission set up by the two countries to determine the truth behind widespread violence in East Timor in 1999, allegedly instigated by elements of the Indonesian military attempting to sabotage a referendum on independence. As many as 1,500 people, including Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes, were killed during the violence.