Gusmao to run for president

Gusmao to run for president

SYDNEY, Australia (DPA): Xanana Gusmao will be East Timor's
first president, Interim Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-
Horta said on Sunday.

Speaking on a visit to Canberra, Ramos-Horta said that even
though Gusmao was not a candidate in the August 30 constituent
assembly elections, he was likely to bow to public pressure and
put himself forward.

Ramos-Horta said he too, despite not being an official
candidate, would accept a position in the new cabinet to be
formed in September.

The Nobel laureate expressed disappointment with U.S. company
Phillips Petroleum's decision to shelve a A$1.5-billion (US$780-
million) pipeline to bring natural gas from the Timor Sea to
Darwin, the Northern Territory capital.