Craig Skehan – The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Howard, said yesterday he was impressed by the "warmth and spontaneity" of an invitation for him to visit Indonesia from the nation's new President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, when he spoke to her by telephone.

Ms Megawati was thought to have harboured resentment over Australia's role in the separation of East Timor from Indonesia. It was Mr Howard who, in the aftermath of the 1998 fall of president Soeharto, suggested an act of self determination in East Timor.

Mr Howard said yesterday that he spoke to Ms Megawati on Thursday evening to congratulate her. They had agreed their respective governments had "worked through" difficulties over East Timor, he said.

Australia has been urging Indonesia to prosecute senior military officers involved in atrocities in East Timor. However, there are serious doubts that Ms Megawati will do so, given her longstanding opposition to East Timor's independence and military backing for her election as president.

Mr Howard said he had "quite an amiable" conversation with Ms Megawati. "She invited me to visit Indonesia at an early date, and I'm going to give consideration to whether that's possible.

"She was obviously very anxious at a personal level to see the relationship between the two of us in the context of the future and not in the context of the past.

"I thought the discussion, both that it took place and the tone of it, and the warmth and spontaneity of the invitation, all of those things boded well for the future."