Dili – A candidate in East Timor's upcoming presidential election on Tuesday announced a concession which will allow his only rival, independence hero Xanana Gusmao, to stand in the poll.

Francisco Xavier do Amaral said the two parties supporting him in the April 14 poll would drop their logos from ballot papers, following a threat by Gusmao to withdraw from the election over the issue. "To overcome this crisis I will take a position, that is that I am ready to be nominated as candidate for the presidency of Timor Lorosae [East Timor] ... without using the logo and symbols of the two parties which are supporting me," Amaral told a press conference.

Gusmao, the hot favorite to win the poll, is angry at a requirement by the United Nations Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) that candidates use party logos on ballot papers. Gusmao, 56, was nominated by nine political parties but on his condition he would only run as an independent. He says the logos compromise this status and threatened on Saturday to withdraw.

The commission had previously said it could only ditch the logos if all parties agree to do so – including the two who nominated Amaral. It could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Amaral said he would write to the commission on Wednesday stating the decision which had been taken "under no pressure whatsoever".

Foreign minister of the transitional government, Jose Ramos-Horta, hailed the move as "a good settlement" of the impasse. He said Gusmao held a strong influence over the people and his pull-out could have caused fresh problems for East Timor. A spokeswoman for Gusmao said he was unavailable for comment but was expected to make a statement Wednesday after an announcement by the IEC.

Gusmao, hugely popular and intensely active in efforts to reconcile pro- and anti-independence East Timorese, is one of only two candidates for president of what will become the world's newest nation on May 20. Amaral, 66, was president for nine days in 1975 when the former Portuguese colony declared independence, only to be invaded by Indonesia just over a week later.

Gusmao, a former guerrilla commander who spent six years in an Indonesian prison, has for months expressed his reluctance to become president. On a visit to Thailand last week he said he hoped Amaral would win. When he announced his candidacy in August, Gusmao said he would rather be a pumpkin farmer but had agreed to run after pressure from international leaders and the UN's Transitional Administration in East Timor.

East Timorese voted in a UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999 to split from Indonesia, prompting a bloody and destructive backlash from pro-Jakarta militias supported by elements of the Indonesian army. Australian-led international troops arrived in September to secure the territory against the massive campaign of destruction and the UN took over the administration in October 1999.