Joanna Jolly – East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao said he supports pardons for militiamen who are found guilty of committing atrocities during the territory's 1999 vote for independence.

But Gusmao, who is widely expected to become East Timor's first president when it becomes independent next year, said the paramilitaries would first have to account for their crimes. "I am of the mind that amnesty comes after justice," he told reporters in East Timor's capital, Dili.

Gusmao also criticised Australian peacekeepers stationed at East Timor's border with Indonesia for distributing "wanted" posters of pro-Jakarta militiamen. He said the tactic was frightening refugees still in West Timor from returning home and disrupting reconciliation efforts.