Militia leader 'ready for justice'

Militias still control thousands of refugees in border camps

East Timorese militia leader Nemecio Lopes de Carvalho has returned to the capital, Dili, saying he is ready to face trial over the wave of violence surrounding the 1999 independence vote.

I am convinced the people of East Timor will receive us

Militia leader Nemecio Lopes de Carvalho

Mr Carvalho was the leader of the feared Mahidi (Indonesia, Live or Die) militia and is the most senior anti-independence leader to return to East Timor.

United Nations prosecutors have implicated him in the murder of hundreds of East Timorese, but they have not as yet called for his arrest.

Mr Carvalho denied on Wednesday he had been involved in any killing. The militia blame the Indonesian army for inciting the bloodshed.

Xanana Gusmao has been pursuing a policy of reconciliation

Mr Carvalho was accompanied by up to 800 followers as he crossed into the UN-administered territory.

He said: "I am convinced the people of East Timor will receive us. I am ready to face justice."

Mr Carvalho said his brother, Cancio, the former commander of Mahidi, would return next month.

Independence leader and likely future president Xanana Gusmao met Mr Carvalho shortly after he arrived in East Timor. He has been trying to encourage militia leaders to return in moves aimed at reconciliation.

UN agencies say about 50,000 East Timorese refugees remain across the border in camps controlled by the militia.