Sydney – Australia will contribute to a UN peacekeeping force in East Timor if a peaceful transition in the province could not be realized otherwise, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday.

For the first time, Downer confirmed Australia was prepared to contribute to a UN peacekeeping force, but only if it came with clearly defined objectives and an assessment of the risks involved to Australian personnel.

Addressing a press club luncheon, Downer said, "We hope that East Timor's transition can be handled in such a way that peacekeeping forces are simply not required. But if that does not eventuate, and if the United Nations makes the call ... Australia will respond."

Downer rejected claims by East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao that Indonesia was arming pro-Indonesian paramilitary troops. Downer said he accepted personal assurances from Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas that this was not Indonesia's policy.

Xanana says, "There is no longer a doubt in our minds that ABRI (the Indonesian armed forces) is actively promoting a situation of heightened tension in order to thwart our efforts toward reconciliation, and to ensure that the conditions necessary for a free and fair consultation to take place do not exist in the territory."

Xanana made the comment in a letter to Australian Ambassador to Indonesia John McCarthy, which was released Wednesday.