New documents from the APEC inquiry obtained by CBC Radio indicate federal officials scheduled to testify in the fall will give new explanations for the actions of the federal government.

The hearings in Vancouver are examining police conduct towards protesters at the 1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The new documents are unsworn statements meant to summarize what the commission staff anticipate two senior people involved in the APEC planning will say when they testify.

One of the witnesses is the prime minister's former director of operations, Jean Carle. The other is Canada's former ambassador to Indonesia, Gary Smith.

Both men played key roles in assuring the Indonesians that their leader, Suharto, wouldn't be embarrassed by protests outside the APEC meetings.

Carle's role in the planning included sorting out details of the main meeting at the University of British Columbia.

The new documents indicate Carle is expected to say it was concerns about safety at one protest zone near the law building that led to a dispute between him and the university.

UBC had accused Carle of trying to push protesters out of sight.

Carle is also expected to say both he and Jean Chretien were well aware of Indonesian officials' concerns that Suharto might suffer embarrassment by seeing demonstrations.

In fact, the document says Carle will confirm that the prime minister was getting fed up with the continued reports about Indonesian worries.

The document summarizing Smith's anticipated testimony says Smith told commission officials that staff with Indonesia's own human rights agency were worried that if demonstrations went ahead in Canada, Suharto might take a tougher line back home.

Jessie Read of the East Timor Alert Network in Ottawa says the concerns of Indonesia's human rights agency shouldn't have bothered Smith since many other Indonesian activists were urging Canadians to protest.

"In 1997 the Indonesian human rights commission that Mr. Smith is quoting from was still very much controlled by Suharto and his military regime," says Read. "So it's not surprising that some representatives of this commission would have discouraged protest."

Carle couldn't be reached for comment by CBC Radio News. Smith, now vice-president of York University in Toronto, refused to comment on the document. Both men are expected to testify at the inquiry later this year.