Dili, E Timor – The UN Secretary General's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said he will return to the province to gather more information.

"I am really impressed by the beauty of East Timor that I want to return to see the developments that will take place," Marker said before departing from the Comoro airport here Monday.

Asked on his perception of East Timor's development after it integrated with Indonesia, Marker acknowledged that he had no chance to make an assessment but said he will come back to see developments in the province.

Marker, here for a visit from March 22-24, said he was tasked by the UN Secretary General to gather facts and make a report on the province.

This is his first official visit since he was appointed as a special representative for the East Timor issue.

"Since the East Timor issue is still an international issue, I came to this province to get inputs and try to find a just solution," he said.

During his three-day visit, the envoy met with Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares, speaker of the provincial legislative assembly Antonio Freitas Parada, chief of the East Timor military command Col Mahidin Simbolon, Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and newly inaugurated Baucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento.

East Timor, a Portuguese colony for more than 400 years, integrated with Indonesia in 1976, a year after the majority of its people exercised their self-determination rights by issuing the Balibo declaration.