Sander Thoenes and Quentin Peel, Jakarta – Indonesia may walk out of talks with Portugal over the status of East Timor unless progress is made soon, Ali Alatas, Indonesia's foreign minister, has said.

United Nations' efforts to mediate in intensified talks between Indonesia and Portugal over East Timor had not made any progress. "I don't see any sign yet in Portugal that it is ready for a negotiated solution," he added.

Unless Portugal gave such a sign, Indonesia could go back to the UN General Assembly and ask for a vote of recognition of its annexation of East Timor.

"If at one point or another we are not making any progress, we may have to revert to a showdown vote," Mr Alatas stated. "This time Indonesia will come up with a draft resolution... for which it will have to acquire the support of a majority. Then it will be over."

East Timor was a Portuguese colony until Indonesia invaded in 1975 to quell an independence movement. Up to 200,000 people may have died in clashes between Timorese guerrillas and Indonesian troops; dozens have died in recent months.

"For us, there is no more East Timor problem, internally," Mr Alatas said. "But externally, we have to admit, it is still there. Why is it still a problem in the UN? Because Portugal makes it one."

Portugal, which insists on a referendum on autonomy for the Timorese, submitted annual resolutions to the General Assembly condemning Indonesia's annexation of East Timor for several years. In 1982, the two agreed to avoid public embarrassment and meet twice a year to discuss a compromise.

Earlier this year, Jakarta and Lisbon agreed to intensify negotiations, with regular meetings of lower-level officials rather than just brief ministerial summits.

"Once this is resolved, we can turn to solving whatever internal difficulties we still have in East Timor," Mr Alatas said. "Whatever the opposition, and its size is very much exaggerated, it will collapse."

Diplomats expressed surprise at Indonesia's threat to walk out of the first serious talks since the annexation. Rather than fade out of public memory, East Timor has regained support in the west in recent years, particularly after a leading Timorese independence activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.

Last month, Mr Alatas said President Suharto would not visit Australia and may miss an important Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vancouver to avoid heckling.