"Having invested so much into helping the people of East Timor, we don't want to pull out prematurely so that the country then comes under unacceptable strain and perhaps collapses," Howard told commercial radio.

"That would be the worst possible outcome.

"I don't want to try and put months or years on it. I don't think incidentally it will be a lot of years.

"They will come home as soon as it is consistent with the stability of East Timor that the UN peacekeeping operation finishes."

Australia sent 1,000 troops to East Timor in September 1999, a month after a UN-sponsored vote for independence sparked widespread bloodshed and property damage by pro-Jakarta militias and departing Indonesian troops.

In October 1999 a UN mission took over the country to prepare it for independence in May 2002. A UN support mission which now includes 3,800 peacekeeping troops is due to leave at the end of May next year.

There have been concerns about the stability of the country. Organised riots in the capital Dili last December, in which two people died and many buildings were destroyed, were described by one minister as an attempt to topple the government.

Attacks on civilians early this year, in which at total of seven were killed, were widely blamed on pro-Jakarta former militiamen crossing from Indonesian West Timor.

In April the Security Council voted to slow the withdrawal of UN troops. It maintained the date of May 2004 for the final pullout.

WAR.WIRE