United Nations police officers in East Timor will be issued with side arms in a bid to address recent violence.

UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said the civilian police force would be issued with guns from Thursday, following recent unrest throughout the capital Dili.

The announcement comes as UN officials say the Indonesian authorities have arrested on Wednesday a local militia leader who has been accused of carrying out attacks and issuing threats to UN peace-keeping forces from neighbouring West Timor.

The commander of the international force in East Timor, General Peter Cosgrove, said he was told that the militia leader, known as Moko Soares, had been detained at his home inside West Timor.

He said Soares had been charged with the illegal possession and sale of weapons.

Rules of engagement

Mr Silva said the UN police officers would be permitted to use guns if their life - or that of a third party - was in immediate danger.

Although every officer in the multinational force had been trained to use firearms, each would undergo further testing to make sure they were competent.

The first side arms will be issued to officers in the Dili jail, and to patrol officers over the next month.

By then, the UN mission is also expecting a rapid response unit of 120 armed officers to be in place.

But Mr Silva said British police officers would remain unarmed.

"They are forbidden by their national law to use weapons. Therefore they will not be armed and they will have duties that will not put them in this kind of situation.

"They will probably be doing more administrative work, which is also needed in any police establishment."

In other moves aimed at addressing the recent unrest, the force increased patrols of the Dili market and recruited some 200 East Timorese who formerly served with the Indonesian police.

Officers arriving in East Timor this week will increase the civilian force's strength to 600 - it is authorised to number up to 1,640.

'Safe to return'

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will visit the island on 17 and 18 February, as part of a tour of Asia and the Pacific.

He is expected to tell the 100,000 East Timorese refugees living in neighbouring West Timor that it is safe to return following last year's violence.

Pro-Jakarta militias killed hundreds of people in a campaign of murder, looting and destruction after the East Timorese voted for independence last year.