Andrew Marshall, Dili – Hundreds of anti-independence militiamen are still active in East Timor and the border is not yet secure against more entering, the head of the UN-mandated multinational force said on Friday.

"My estimate would be militia active in hundreds," force commander Major-General Peter Cosgrove told a news conference. "This notion of an impermeable border or an Interfet that can somehow magically overnight guarantee foolproof security is one that I think we can only wish for."

Cosgrove said he was extremely doubtful about reports feared militia leader Eurico Guterres had visited the town of Liquica, just west of Dili, with a band of armed militiamen.

Earlier, Australian radio said he had changed his position after dismissing the reports on Thursday. "I can tell you now that it is extremely unlikely that Eurico Guterres or any of his militia were in Liquica at the time that was reported," he said. "I happen to know from other sources where Guterres was, and he wasn't in Liquica."

Cosgrove would not say where Guterres was. Guterres leads the Aitarak (Thorn) militia which had been based in Dili and ransacked the city after East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence in a UN-supervised ballot on August 30.

He labelled reports Guterres had travelled to Liquica "a fairly crass propaganda attempt which is working like a charm". But he conceded there had been militia activity near Liquica. Thousands of militiamen are believed to be gathered near the border in West Timor.

The multinational force which arrived in the East Timor last month after Jakarta's failure to stem the violence has fanned out across the territory, but reports of militia activity persist, even in heavily-guarded Dili. Cosgrove said he was checking reports of shooting in Dili overnight.

He said 400 Australian and British troops had been despatched to "beef up our presence in the western regencies", and a major contingent of Thai troops was expected to arrive in East Timor's second largest city, Baucau, on Saturday.