Rudd makes E Timor security vow

Kevin Rudd met Australian troops during his brief visit

Australia will continue to help East Timor with its security needs, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said.

Mr Rudd, who has pledged to withdraw Australian forces from Iraq, hinted that 1,000 soldiers in East Timor would stay until they were no longer needed.

He was speaking after meeting East Timorese leaders during a visit to the capital Dili with UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.

East Timor called for international help last year after elections were marred by violence.

Australia sent a force of 1,000 troops to help to quell the unrest, and about 1,500 UN police were also deployed.

"From our point of view, as the Australian government, we stand ready to assist our friends in Timor Leste with their continuing security needs," Mr Rudd said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also pledged to help to ensure "peace and stability" in the tiny country.

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta said he had reiterated to Mr Rudd that the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force should stay until 2008 at least.

"We should not repeat the mistakes of the past, a hasty withdrawal of the UN and our friends," Mr Ramos-Horta said.

The former Portuguese colony broke away from 25 years of Indonesian rule in a 1999 referendum, and was placed under UN protection until 2002.

Mr Rudd became prime minister in early December, following a landslide victory over John Howard in November elections.