The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Jakarta

Lauded by some as a pro-market Cold Warrior who brought stability to Indonesia, shunned by others as a corrupt autocrat, Suharto-who died Sunday aged 86 -- dominated his country's politics for 32 years.

Key events in his life and career:

June 8, 1921: Born to a farming family on the main Indonesian island of Java, then part of the Netherlands Indies.

1940-1943: Joins the Royal Netherlands Indies Army, rising to the rank of sergeant. Following Japanese occupation in 1942 he joins Japanese-backed independence militia Pembela.

1945-49: Joins newly formed national army following declaration of independence. Distinguishes himself in the fight against returning Dutch colonialists until sovereignty is finally transferred in December 1949.

1963: Becomes commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) in Jakarta.

March 11, 1966: Forces Sukarno to sign an executive order granting him power to restore order in the wake of a September 1965 coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The order, which effectively transfers power to Suharto, gives legitimacy to a crackdown on suspected PKI members that kills more than half a million.

March 12, 1967: Suharto is appointed acting president by the provisional people's consultative assembly, which had rejected Sukarno's accountability speech.

August 8, 1967: Along with foreign leaders, helps establish the new regional grouping the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

March 21, 1968: Suharto is confirmed as president by the People's Consultative Assembly, the nation's legislature. He is elected unopposed again in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993 and 1998.

December 7, 1975: Begins large-scale military operations in newly independent neighbour East Timor, eventually leading to its annexation as an Indonesian province. Around 200,000 Timorese are either killed in the invasion or die from preventable causes during the occupation.

1985: Indonesia becomes self-sufficient in rice, its staple food, after decades of being one of the world's largest importers.

1990: Establishes the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) in an apparent move to cultivate orthodox Muslim support to counter fading enthusiasm for his rule among senior military officials concerned with the questionable business practices of his children.