KEY POINTS:
East Timor presidential candidate Jose Ramos Horta says he'll swallow his pride and ask New Zealand to keep its troops in the tiny nation for years if he wins Monday's election.
And Prime Minister Helen Clark indicated that New Zealand would be willing to stay.
"This year with
the presidential and parliamentary elections, East Timor is particularly volatile," she said yesterday.
"So long as the East Timor Government and the United Nations continue their support, it's hard to see a withdrawal in the near future."
The commitment to East Timor, which began in 1999, had been reduced, but it was lifted again last year when violence flared in the fledgling state.
New Zealand recently said another 32 Defence Force personnel would be sent there, taking the total to 180, and 25 police officers.
The New Zealanders serve six-month spells in East Timor.
Some MPs said last year that commitments to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, the Solomons, and East Timor were putting the Army under pressure.
The issue of further international support for East Timor will be on the agenda of a meeting Helen Clark is having in Lisbon on Wednesday with Jose Socrates, the Prime Minister of East Timor's former colonial power, Portugal.
Dr Ramos Horta, East Timor's Prime Minister, is a frontrunner among eight presidential candidates vying to replace independence fighter Xanana Gusmao, who will run for Parliament in June.
"If I'm the President, I will ask the UN, Australia, New Zealand to stay on here for as many years as possible," he said.
"My first obligation is to ensure that women, children, the elderly, the farmers, the students are able to walk free in the streets.
"Until such a time we can guarantee that with our own police force, I'm sorry but I will swallow my pride and I will ask Australia, New Zealand, 'please stay on'."
Dr Ramos Horta also said he wanted East Timor to become a Commonwealth country, despite it having been a Portuguese, rather than British, colony.
He said he would propose that East Timor make a formal submission this year through the secretary of the Commonwealth.
"My strategy is to get Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and India to endorse it."
Helen Clark indicated she had sympathy for East Timor's bid.
"East Timor is in the anomalous position of not being part of a regional organisation such as Asean, despite the fact it is part of the Indonesian archipelago, and it is not part of the Pacific Islands Forum either. So it can end up a little isolated."
There is a precedent for a non-British colony being allowed into the Commonwealth. Mozambique, also a former Portuguese colony, is a member.
New Zealanders in East Timor
* 150 troops and 25 police are in East Timor, and another 32 troops are to be sent there
* NZ has had a military presence there since 1999
* The commitment to Timor was reduced, but was increased again after violence last year
* New Zealand is involved in 19 overseas military assignments, involving 607 personnel
