East Timor freedom fighter to run for president

East Timorese freedom fighter Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao is to run for the presidency of the new nation when it gains full independence next year.

Mr Gusmao, a former guerrilla commander, is wildly popular in the homeland that he helped free from 24 years of repressive Indonesian occupation.

He was captured by Indonesian forces in 1992 and remained a political prisoner in Jakarta until after East Timor's people voted overwhelmingly to break free from Indonesian rule in a UN ballot on August 30, 1999.

Until now, he has often said that he had no ambition to become its first head of state. He had claimed that he would rather be a farmer or a photographer and that former rebel fighters usually do not make good presidents.

However, at Saturday's news conference he said other Timorese political leaders had pressured him into running for the top job.

They have said that only Mr Gusmao, 55, has the universal respect to unite the nascent nation.

But even as he announced his candidacy, Mr Gusmao protested that he "was conscious that I am not the best person for the job."

"I had nurtured the dream that after independence I would have time to cultivate pumpkins and animals," he said.

His announcement comes five days before East Timor holds it first democratic election for an 88-member assembly that will draft a constitution.

East Timor has been under temporary UN administration since it was ravaged by Indonesian soldiers and their militia allies after the 1999 independence ballot.