Kupang – East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao told a sports stadium filled with East Timorese refugees Saturday that it was their decision whether or not to return home.

But Gusmao told the crowd of about 1,000 people that his country will welcome those who come back.

"In East Timor there are no first-class or second-class citizens and the refugees who already went back live peacefully with their brothers in their own villages," said Gusmao who is on a four-day visit to encourage thousands of his countrymen to return home.

"We in East Timor always remember you and you definitely remember us. Because of that we should get together to resolve our problems," he said in the East Timorese language, Tetum.

"[But] the decision to go home depends on you," he said. "If you want to go home we will continue to accept you," Gusmao, who once commanded rebel forces resisting Indonesian occupation, told the crowd.

Gusmao later travelled to the outskirts of Kupang to visit an East Timorese refugee camp where he was enthusiastically welcomed by about 1,000 people.

He was to attend a friendly soccer match later Saturday between an East Timorese side and a Kupang team.

More than 250,000 East Timorese fled or were forced from their homeland into West Timor after the Indonesian military and the militia proxies they created carried out a scorched-earth policy after the August, 1999, UN-sponsored ballot in which East Timor voted to secede.

The UN's refugee agency estimates 30,000 refugees remain in West Timor. Most are former militia, military, police, government officials and their followers.

In July, Gusmao received red carpet treatment when he made his first visit to Indonesia since his country became independent on May 20 after 31 months of UN stewardship.

East Timor's independence is still considered an affront by sections of the Indonesian military.