Lewa Pardomuan, Dili – Nine warships of a multinational UN peace force sailed for East Timor on Saturday and the force commander was expected to hold talks with the Indonesian military in the shattered territory on Sunday.

The European Commission said up to 200 people might have been killed on Friday in a continuation of the blood-letting which has swept the territory since it voted for independence from Indonesia.

Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao on Saturday left Jakarta and was believed to be heading for Darwin, northern Australia. The Portuguese news agency Lusa quoted a Timorese resistance source as saying Gusmao was likely to attend a meeting of Timorese resistance officials in Darwin.

East Timor's devastated capital Dili was quiet on Saturday, a source with the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Gunfire could still be heard overnight and fires seen in hills around the city, where military sources say 30,000 pro-independence refugees are sheltering.

UN force commander Australian Major-General Peter Cosgrove and his 13-member advance team were due to arrive in Dili at 1pm on Sunday and stay for three hours, the Indonesian commander in Dili said.

Cosgrove's visit is expected to be followed by the deployment of the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) troops, spearheaded by some 2,000 Australians and 250 Gurkhas of the British army.

The full UN deployment is expected in about two days. Troops will arrive by air and sea from Darwin. A total of about 8,000 personnel from around the world are expected to eventually join the mission.

Ten tonnes of emergency food rations were dropped to refugees in East Timor on Saturday, Australian aid agency Ausaid said. Clearance was received for two flights on Monday to make drops from high altitude, distributing food over a wider area, a World Food Programme spokeswoman said.

UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) spokesman David Wimhurst said "massive amounts" of additional aid were needed for the hundreds of thousands of refugees believed to have fled violence by pro-Indonesia militias in recent weeks.

The anti-independence militias have threatened to attack the international force. Across Indonesia, tens of thousands of Moslems have signed up for a holy war against UN-backed forces, religious leaders said.

Heads of Indonesia's largest Moslem mass organisation in East Java province said they were prepared for such a "jihad". "The call for jihad against foreign intervention in East Timor should be understood as a spontaneous heroism," said Hasyim Muzadi, head of the Nadhlatul Ulama in East Java. "The anger of Indonesian people is not only directed at Australia, but also especially at the United States." East Timor independence leader Gusmao said in a BBC interview on Saturday he feared rogue elements of the Indonesian military might attack peacekeepers.