East Timor's prosecutor general has revealed that rebel leader, Gastao Salsinha, was ready to surrender to authorities last Monday, but now wants to wait until the president Jose Ramos-Horta returns from Australia's Northern Territory.

Dr Ramos-Horta is in a hospital in Darwin recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered in an apparent assassination attempt last month.

After four days of dialogue with Gastao Salsinha, the prosecutor-general, Longuinhos Monteiro, said the rebel leader, along with 29 of his men, had agreed to surrender peacefully.

But our reporter in Dili, Stephanie March, says the rebel leader changed his mind on Sunday and has since severed all contact with the prosecutor general.

"I got another letter from him, that say he want to postpone till President Ramos-Horta is coming back from Darwin," he said.

"I don't know why, but maybe he is being influenced by some third party. It's possible."

Meanwhile, President Ramos-Horta has named the rebel soldier, Marcelo Caetano, as the man who shot and seriously wounded him in last month's attack at his home.

He is now believed to be in hiding with other rebels wanted for the near-simultaneous attacks on the president and the prime minister, Xanana Gusmao, who survived unhurt.

More than 450 of East Timor's military, with support from Australian and New Zealand troops, are deployed across the country monitoring the movements of the rebels.

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