Australia and Indonesia had agreed to put behind them the strained relationship which arose over East Timor and move on, Prime Minister John Howard said today, while Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid promised to pursue the perpetrators of human rights atrocities in East Timor.

Mr Howard met President Wahid this morning in talks the prime minister described as positive. Mr Wahid told a press conference soon after that his visit to Australia was a strong symbol and he hoped it would help bring Australia and Indonesia closer together.

"I come here mainly in a symbolic way," Mr Wahid told reporters. "But symbolic or not, it is really important because of many things. "With this kind of visit the co-operation between Indonesia and Australia will be closer, and I hope that we both can help the East Timorese to regain their position in the international community."

Mr Wahid said it was important to bring to justice those responsible for the militia violence in East Timor, but he said it would take time. "They have to be brought to justice," he said. "The law enforcement will take place in Indonesia but, of course, it needs time."

Mr Howard said he supported Indonesia's commitment to independent tribunals to examine who was responsible for the violence in East Timor. "We do wish to see those tribunals operate," Mr Howard said. "We are pleased to note the commitment in relation to investigation of matters both before and after the [East Timor independence] ballot."

Mr Howard outlined some of the actions which woiuld flow from President Wahid's visit. "Amongst a number of things that we have agreed to is, of course, to have regular exchanges of visits between the President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Australia," Mr Howard told a joint press conference following the meeting.

"This is, as everyone knows, the first visit to Australia's national capital by an Indonesian president for 29 years. "That alone marks it as a highly significant occasion and a very important one. "Both of us are very strongly of the view that the strains over East Timor, understandable though they were in the context of those events, should in the interests of a broader and deeper relationship be put behind us as we move on. "And I'm delighted to say the visit by the president symbolises that and also gives a great deal of practical substance to the importance of the relationship."

Mr Howard said the foreign ministers of the two nations had signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism and an agreement had also been reached to establish a marine working party. The two leaders also discussed economic matters and noted the establishment of ad hoc tribunals in relation to war crimes both before and after the 1999 East Timor independence ballot.