However Jakarta does not want to allow an international peacekeeping force to enter the territory for at least a week.

The UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said Indonesia would allow the UN to drop relief to East Timorese refugees.

The BBC's David Shukman reports: "Help is needed, fast"

After talks with Indonesian President BJ Habibie in Jakarta she said: "Yes, they have given permission. They are going to start (the airdrop)."

The commissioner added that the relief operation would definitely involve the United States, but Australia might also take part.

Delayed deployment

World leaders have been demanding urgent action following Indonesia's announcement that it would allow an international force into the territory.

Preparations for the force are well underway, with large numbers of troops and ships gathering in the north Australian city of Darwin.

However Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Syarwan Hamid said they would have to wait while details are worked out.

John Howard: pressing for intervention

He said it would take "at the fastest, one week, because it still has to be discussed with the UN Security Council and the other countries".

The Security Council is due to discuss the East Timor crisis on Monday night.

At about the same time the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, is expected in New York for talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the details of the intervention force.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: "The composition of the force is something the UN and the Council will decide"

The main issues will be its composition and how it will interact with the Indonesian armed forces (TNI).

Mr Annan insisted that the UN would decide the composition of the peacekeeping force, adding: "We are determined to move in a force as quickly as we can."

Military 'behind violence'

Mrs Robinson: Airdrops to go ahead

The Indonesian military has been accused of organising the violence which engulfed the East Timor after its vote for independence.

Earlier on Monday, Mrs Robinson said: "My worry is that it appears to be systemic. All the interlocutors I spoke to ... all of them said the TNI was fully involved, were orchestrating it."

The military has backed Jakarta's decision to allow the international force in, but the government has underlined that Indonesian soldiers will remain.

Irene Slegt reports: "Half a million people have left their houses"

In a separate move, a senior Indonesian army officer said he would order militias to stop a campaign of terror against refugees in the West Timorese provincial capital, Kupang, and other centres where more than 100,000 East Timorese have gathered.

Militia commanders told local journalists that they had been assigned to hunt down East Timorese people who backed independence.

Anti-Australian feeling

Indonesian parliamentary leaders on Monday backed the decision to allow peacekeepers, but urged the government to reject the involvement of Australian, New Zealand, and Portuguese troops in the force.

Britain's Ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock

They said that the presence of such soldiers would "create new chaos because they are clearly not neutral".

Protesters in Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, signalled their opposition to Australia's involvement by attacking a representative office of West Australia there.

Others burned an effigy of Australian Prime Minister John Howard outside the embassy in Jakarta.

However, Home Minister Syarwan said Indonesia would "welcome" Australian peacekeepers, Radio Australia reported.

It quoted him as saying that Australia could contribute about 2,000 troops of the initial force of 7,000, and 4,500 in a full deployment of up to 15,000.

Ian Martin, Unamet: "The scale of displacement is immense"

US President Bill Clinton speaking in New Zealand, said Jakarta should not have the final word on the force's composition.

Several countries, including the US, UK and Australia, have troops on standby, but Mr Clinton and other leaders are urging that the majority of troops should come from Asia.

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The refugees need water and food soon

Aid agencies estimate that between 600 and 7,000 people have been killed and as many as 300,000 have fled their homes since the referendum.

Thousands of refugees who fled militia attacks in Dili are now hiding in the province's mountains and have reportedly been forced to forage for roots and plants.

East Timorese independence activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta has called for immediate action to help refugees who face starvation.

Other top stories

• President Habibie's spokesperson answers
• Analysis: Who will make up the force?
• Jakarta media cautious on peacekeepers
• Timor exodus 'run' by Indonesia
• Gurkhas wait for Timor orders

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