East Timor's Bishop Belo says he is declining an invitation to South Africa to meet President Nelson Mandela.

He says he has a lot of work to do in his dioscese and such a journey would be a waste of time.

Bishop Belo says that if President Mandela wants to talk about the politics of East Timor then he should talk to the Indonesian generals.

However, he did make some concessions to the President's interesst in finding a settlement for the problem saying his recent meeting with jailed East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao during a visit to Indonesia was a positive event.

Mr Mandela held talks in Pretoria on Friday with East Timor activist Jose Ramos Horta, who shared last year's peace prize with Bishop Belo, as part of a new initiative by U-N Secretary-general Kofi Annan to resolve the East Timor situation.