Dili – Police in East Timor who shot dead three ex-militiamen trying to enter the country last week were acting in legitimate self-defense, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.

Tensions between Dili and Jakarta have been high since the incident and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda called on Monday for a joint investigation, saying Timorese police had used "excessive force".

Timorese Foreign Minister Josi Ramos Horta expressed regret at the fatal shootings, but said the victims were ex-militiamen had entered Timor illegally and attacked police.

Dili has identified all the slain Indonesians as former pro- Jakarta militia members and one, Josi Mausorte, is on a United Nations list of Timor war crimes suspects.

Giving more details of events Jan. 6 when a group of five Indonesians ran into a routine police patrol just over the border of East Timor, Alaktiri said the group tried to disarm the three-man patrol.

"The officers were ambushed by these individuals who tried to disarm two of them. The third officer had to react in self-defense otherwise we would have had three dead policemen", said the Timorese leader.

"East Timor cannot be a backyard for ex-militiamen who come and go as they please without passports or visas", he added.