Gusmao resigns as East Timor leader

Gusmao led the resistance guerrillas against Indonesia

East Timorese leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao has tendered his resignation as head of the territory's transitional parliament.

Mr Gusmao said in a letter to the United Nations that he had made his decision because of "irresponsibility in the current process leading towards East Timor's independence."

I refuse to be part of a politically irresponsible process

Xanana Gusmao

He complained that the interim body known as the National Council - whose 36 members have been appointed by the UN - no longer reflected the views of East Timorese people.

East Timor has been under a UN administration since 1999, following an independence vote from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975.

Expected to be president

It is set to hold elections in August, after which a new constitution will be drawn up.

Mr Gusmao had been widely seen as the man most likely to become the first president of a future independent East Timor.

Correspondents say his resignation from his position as head of the interim parliament raises questions about the territory's future.

Setting out his reasons in a letter to East Timor's UN administrator, Sergio Vierra de Mello, Mr Gusmao said internal squabbling the National Council was hampering the territory's progress towards independence.

Deadlock

He complained that his attempts to overcome deadlock had proved to be in vain because of what he called the unwillingness of council members to advance the political process.

"I feel, as president of the National Council, that any attempt to overcome the deadlock is in vain due to the lack of willingness of Council members," he said.

Gusmao has resigned before

Mr Gusmao was angered by the refusal of his own party, Fretelin, to canvass the views of East Timor's 600,000 people on their future constitution.

Mr Gusmao has resigned from political posts before and then reversed his decision.

Having spent seven years in Indonesian jails, Mr Gusmao has unrivalled support from the East Timorese people.

But if he refuses to withdraw his resignation it is unclear who might emerge as a future president.