The East Timorese Nobel laureate, Bishop Carlos Belo, held talks with Indonesia's new President, Mr B.J. Habibie, in Jakarta yesterday and said he had won a promise of a "gradual" troop withdrawal from the troubled territory.
"They will study the issue and little by little they will withdraw," Bishop Belo said after an almost two-hour meeting with Mr Habibie held in the presidential palace at the president's initiative.
The Foreign minister, Mr Ali Alatas, who sat in on the talks, was more reticent, saying only: "The armed forces . . . yes the role of the armed forces was included in the conversation."
Indonesian troops invaded East Timor, then a Portuguese colony in 1975, and Jakarta annexed it unilaterally the following year - a move rejected by most of the international community and the UN.
Though no timetable was given, yesterday's promise of withdrawal was seen as a major move by Indonesia, which under the leadership of former president Suharto had for 23 years doggedly rejected any concessions on the issue, despite the heavy damage to its foreign policy.
But western diplomats said this week that the Indonesian military, believed to have suffered more than 20,000 casualties in the territory, would be "more than glad to leave as long as East Timor remains a part of Indonesia".
Bishop Belo emerged from the meeting in an upbeat mood, heaping praise on Mr Habibie and saying he now hoped for "a new starting point" for his people. But he said they did not discuss Mr Habibie's offer of autonomy.
Bishop Belo, a human rights worker who was awarded the 1996 Nobel peace prize along with the self-exiled independence leader, Mr Ramos Horta, expressed optimism the talks would bear concrete results. He said that the President already signed his wish list and had agreed Mr Alatas should implement the reform programme.
"He is very open, and hopefully he will last long, and not just as a transition [president]," Bishop Belo said, referring to Mr Habibie's transitional role since the resignation of Mr Suharto.
Since taking office, Mr Habibie has freed 15 East Timorese political prisoners and offered the territory autonomy within Indonesia, which Mr Alatas has said would involve Jakarta retaining budgetary, foreign affairs and defence controls. But Mr Habibie's government has faced mounting demands to free the jailed East Timorese rebel leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, now serving a 20-year prison term in Jakarta, and to grant a referendum on self-determination to the territory.
In East Timor's capital, Dili, the reaction to yesterday's meeting was cool, and students and residents said fresh protests demanding a referendum on independence would be held today. Thousands of East Timorese, shouting "Viva Timor Leste" and "Viva Xanana", toured Dili on bicycles and buses on Tuesday to demand self-determination in the former Portuguese colony. No violence was reported.
When asked about the meeting in Jakarta, one resident said: "It's only a meeting. I don't expect much from it. There will be another big protest tomorrow to call for a referendum . . . that's what I know."