Timorese militia leader leaves jail

The pro-Indonesian militia leader, Eurico Guterres, who is on trial in Jakarta on weapons charges, has been released from prison and placed under house arrest.

A court ordered the release after his defence lawyers promised he would not flee.

The militia leader denies charges of possessing illegal weapons and blocking attempts by the authorities to disarm his followers in Indonesian West Timor last year.

Pro-Indonesian militias were held responsible for thousands of killings in East Timor in the run-up to a United Nations independence ballot in 1999; and the UN has demanded that Mr Guterres be handed over to it for trial.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service