Belinda Tasker – Britain could launch legal action against two surviving former Indonesian military chiefs linked to the deaths of the Balibo Five if Australia fails to pursue the men.

Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn raised the possibility during talks today in London with British relatives of Malcolm Rennie, one of five Australian-based newsmen deliberately killed by Indonesian troops in the East Timorese border town of Balibo 32 years ago.

The Australian Federal Police and the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions are still considering whether to prosecute the two Indonesians a NSW coroner has linked to the deaths.

After a lengthy inquest last year into the newsmen's deaths, deputy NSW coroner Dorelle Pinch found that a handful of former senior Indonesian military personnel, including Captain Yunus Yosfiah and Commander Christoforus da Silva, were involved in the killings.

Ms Munn told two of Mr Rennie's cousins that she hoped to have talks with Australian government ministers in coming weeks to find out when a decision about whether to prosecute was likely to be made. She also agreed to discuss the issue further when she visits Australia later this year.

Liberal Democrats MP Don Foster, who attended today's meeting, said both the minister and Mr Rennie's relatives hoped Australia would pursue da Silva and Yosfiah.

"(Meg Munn) has agreed to have further meetings with the relatives of the Balibo Five and she has said that the British government doesn't rule out the possibility of Britain taking action in the event that Australia does not," he told AAP.

"I think if we look back at the history of Britain's rather sad involvement in this case, there are now clear signs progress is now being made."

Mr Rennie's cousins, Suzanne Andel and Margaret Wilson, said they were desperate to find out how long Australian officials would take to decide whether to launch legal action. "If Malcolm were still alive today he would have been 62 a couple of weeks ago and there's still a need for justice," Ms Andel said.

Ms Wilson said she hoped Australia would take action, and quickly. "Some of the witnesses have already died and some of the accused have already died," she said. "We don't have an infinite amount of time to pursue this."

When she handed down her findings last November, Ms Pinch ruled that Gary Cunningham, Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart and their British-born colleagues Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie were shot or stabbed while trying to surrender to Indonesian-led troops who stormed Balibo on October 16, 1975.

Captain Yosfiah, who later became Indonesia's minister of information, has denied ordering the killings.

If Australia decides it either cannot or will not pursue Yosfiah and da Silva, Britain could face difficulties launching its own criminal proceedings because it has no extradition treaty with Indonesia. However, it could possibly pursue action under international war crimes laws.

Mr Foster and Mr Rennie's cousins hope British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will discuss the issue with his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd when he visits London next month. A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "It's a matter for the Australian judicial process and we will see what happens."

The British government has previously been accused of being involved in a cover-up of the Balibo Five's deaths. Last month it faced calls from Mr Foster to ask INTERPOL to issue arrest warrants for da Silva and Yosfiah.