Leo Shanahan – East Timor Minister of State Agio Pereira has said allegations of spying by Australian intelligence on Indonesia's President will not be used as ammunition in Dili's dispute with Canberra over espionage.

During a visit to Australia, Mr Pereira said yesterday the revelations would not have an impact on Dili's relations with Canberra, although he said it was important Australia established "who its friends and enemies are.

The Australian revealed earlier this year that the East Timorese government alleges that Australian spy agency ASIS breached international law and Timorese sovereignty during the negotiations over the Greater Sunrise natural gas reserve, a resource worth billions to both nations.

ASIS allegedly broke into the East Timorese cabinet offices in October 2004 and bugged them during negotiations over the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea Treaty. East Timor has taken Australia to international arbitration in The Hague to have the CMATS Treaty declared invalid.

Mr Pereira said with two arbitrators chosen, the private arbitration would begin next month and was likely to run until September, with Timor working with world-renowned international lawyers Elihu Lauterpacht, employed by Australia during the nuclear test case, and Vaughan Lowe.

Mr Pereira said East Timor would not use any information leaked by fugitive former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden as evidence against Australia, and had not been made aware whether similar surveillance had been conducted on East Timorese officials.

"This is an international arbitration tribunal, so it won't be influenced by the mainstream media... these are experienced people, who will apply the law. So politicisation and the media won't affect them, he said.

"The relationship between Timor L Este and Australia is a strong one. Defence to defence is very strong... It will not have a collateral damage on the relationship.

The minister did warn Australia that it needed to establish between "real friends and real enemies, because spying on the Indonesian President was more akin to an "act of war rather than something that took place among allies.

"It probably needs to stay within the realms of national interest. You need to define clearly who your real enemies are.

"Because if there's spying on the President of Indonesia, of Germany, of France or Japan, then the question that arises in the international community is who is your real enemy, and how do you define it?

Mr Pereira will deliver an address at the Australian National University in Canberra today.