Portugal acts on East Timor

Portugal has launched a diplomatic initiative urging Indonesia to release the East Timorese resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao, and other Timorese political prisoners held in Indonesian jails.

The Portuguese prime minister, Antonio Guterres, said his government had contacted the United States, the United Nations Secretary-general and other world leaders, appealing to them to put more pressure on the new administration in Indonesia.

Portugal has been one of the main advocates of self-determination for East Timor since Indonesia invaded the territory twenty-three years ago.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service