Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta will tell Kevin Rudd today that he expects Australian troops to stay in the country for at least another year.

"As Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has stated, and I agree with him, the quicker we East Timorese resolve our own problems, the quicker the International Stabilisation Force and UN police force can leave the country," Mr Ramos Horta said yesterday.

Mr Ramos Horta told The Australian he expected the UN mission in East Timor to remain until 2011 or beyond, which he admitted would need a continuing Australian military presence as well.

Mr Rudd will today make a lightning call on Mr Ramos Horta, as well as Mr Gusmao, and meet with the 1300-strong Australian-led International Stabilisation Force and the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor, Indian diplomat Atul Khare.

The Prime Minister will be competing for attention with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as the pair's flights from Bali – where they have been attending the climate change conference – are scheduled to arrive at Dili international airport within 15 minutes of each other this morning.

Planners have been working frantically to make sure the two motorcades do not cross each other's paths, with Mr Rudd due to leave the country after two hours and Mr Ban early tomorrow without the pair meeting.

Asked yesterday about his plans for the visit, Mr Rudd said there remained a serious challenge in guaranteeing East Timor's long-term security.

Mr Rudd, who criticised the Howard government for withdrawing Australian troops from East Timor too early after it became an independent nation, said his Government would take "an exceptionally conservative approach" to maintaining its long-term security.

Renegade East Timorese soldier Alfredo Reinado yesterday called on Mr Rudd to admit that Australian troops were propping up what he described as a "collapsing government" in Dili. The former military policeman is wanted on murder charges relating to last year's East Timor unrest, after escaping from jail with a large number of his men in August 2006.

Major Reinado, who remains at large in mountainous country outside Dili, told The Australian by telephone that he welcomed Mr Rudd's visit "but the Australian troops, their presence here needs to be clarified". "What they are doing here is the question – don't come just to protect the Government."

A criminal case has begun against Major Reinado in his absence, with hearings adjourned until January 24. But the Australian-trained soldier said he had no intention of submitting himself to the country's criminal justice system until a military tribunal had tried those he claimed were responsible for last year's violence, including Mr Gusmao, armed forces chief Taur Matan Rauk and Mr Ramos Horta. "This Government is collapsing again. It's on the edge," Major Reinado said.

[Additional reporting: Matthew Franklin.]