Dili – The bodies of 13 people, many of them showing traces of violence, have been found in a mass grave near Dili, a spokesman for the United Nations said on Saturday.

The bodies were found at Tibar, around 20 kilometres west of the East Timorese capital. A grave containing the corpses of two men, one with his throat cut the other killd by a bullet in the head, had previously been found at the site, spokesman David Wimhurst said.

AFP journalists on Saturday found another three bodies near a house in Dili. One had been half devoured by animals, another had been dumped in a ditch and the third was covered in loose stones.

The latest discoveries follow the killing last weekend of nine people, including two nuns, in eastern East Timor and the discovery in Dili on Tuesday of the charred and mutilated remains of at least nine people.

The victims are believed to have been killed by members of armed militias who went on a violent rampage after the territory voted on August 30 for independence.

The militias, who want East Timor to remain part of Indonesia, were backed by some members of the Indonesian army.

The United Nations has begun an inquiry into the atrocities. Members of an investigative team are due to arrive here early next week.

The UN inquiry is to produce findings by the year end. These could lead to the establishment of an international tribunal to judge those accused of carrying out or organising the terror.