Lisbon – Indonesian soldiers and militiamen are laying mines in Dili, the capital of East Timor, as they stream out of the province ahead of the arrival of a multinational peace force, a resistance leader told Portuguese radio Friday.

Leandro Isaac, a leader of the Timoran Resistance National Council, warned the Australian-led force to be careful. He told Lisbon's TSF radio station by telephone from a mountain hideout close to Dili that the soldiers were laying the mines before leaving.

In a separate interview with the Portuguese news agency Lusa, Isaac said the soldiers and militiamen were moving south toward Dare, where tens of thousands of displaced civilians have taken shelter. "They are firing rifles and submachine-guns continuously, advancing rapidly towards the displaced persons," he said.