East Timorese leader appeals for non-violence

An exiled East Timorese opposition leader, Jose Ramos Horta, has urged guerillas there to end their armed struggle against Indonesian rule.

Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Mr Horta said that what was needed was a non-violent strategy inspired by the examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the Dalai Lama.

But he later told the French news agency that a ceasefire could not be unilateral and called on the Indonesian authorities to make a goodwill gesture.

East Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and later annexed in a move which has not been recognised by the international community.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service