The federal investigators appear to be interested in Mr Rowland's cottage because among those who paid for the work are several key figures in a widening federal grand-jury investigation of corruption in the state's capital, Hartford.

ECONOMIST: But corruption in this state can be a bipartisan business

Mr Suharto's critics have accused him of everything from corruption and nepotism on a grand scale to responsibility for brutalities, murder and worse.

ECONOMIST: Indonesia