East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao's new Australian wife played a "fundamental and key" role over the past decade in the resistance to Indonesian occupation, Portugal's ambassador to Jakarta said Monday in Dili.

Ambassador Ana Gomes, who attended the surprise, private wedding Sunday, told Lusa the Timorese would be "very foolish" if they did not accept 34-year-old Kirsty Sword as Gusmao's wife and recognize "the absolutely fundamental" role she had played as "liason with the outside world" while he was imprisoned in Jakarta.

Gomes, who attended the Catholic wedding at Dare, just south of Dili Sunday, described the ceremony as "lovely and modest" and "above all filled with much happiness and good humor." The wedding, she added, was attended by "the two families and a half-dozen close friends."

A father of three, Gusmao divorced his first wife, Emilia, about one month ago after a years-long separation. His first marriage had not been through the Catholic church. The newlyweds, who departed Monday on an official visit and one-day honeymoon in New Zealand, announced their marriage in a brief statement issued earlier in the day.