United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has begun a 17-day tour of Asia and the Pacific, the highlight of which will be a visit to East Timor.

Mr Annan will visit both West and East Timor on 17 and 18 February.

He is expected to tell refugees it is safe to return to East Timor following last year's violence.

The UN is rebuilding the devastated former Portuguese colony that Indonesia invaded in 1975.

But more than 100,000 East Timorese remain in refugee camps in neighbouring West Timor.

Some are afraid to go home, while others are held against their will by Indonesian militia who herded them into the camps in September following a vote for independence from Jakarta.

Mr Annan starts the tour in Thailand, where he is to make a key speech at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Bangkok.

A UN spokesman said Mr Annan would appeal for international markets to be opened up on a fair basis to developing countries, so that they can pull themselves out of poverty, rather than depend on aid and handouts.

From Thailand, Mr Annan goes to Singapore on 13 February for meetings with government leaders and then to Jakarta on 15 February for a session with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid the following day.

He is expected to voice strong support for the democratic aims of the new Indonesian government.

Looting and burning

UN officials and diplomats have moderated their criticism of Indonesia since Mr Wahid took power, mindful of the country's difficult transition to democracy.

Mr Annan may be questioned about a UN tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the mayhem in East Timor, a recommendation by a team of UN human rights experts who doubted Mr Wahid's government would have the freedom to mount trials.

UN officials and diplomats believe Indonesia must first be given the opportunity to prosecute those responsible.

From Timor, Mr Annan goes to Australia from 18 to 21 February and to New Zealand a day later.

He is expected to thank Australia for sending thousands of troops to East Timor in September to stop the killings, looting and burnings.

He has admitted that UN peacekeepers would have taken months longer to organise.