A member of East Timor's shaky coalition government says it has made a cooperation pact with the main opposition Fretilin Party.

But Timorese Social Democratic Association chief Fransisco Xavier do Amaral says his group has not left prime minister Xanana Gusmao's parliamentary coalition.

He refused to release any details about the pact with Fretilin, saying only that it was "some sort of political plan for the future."

But sources close to the two parties say that under the agreement they would work together in elections, possibly late next year, and would split key cabinet positions if they won a governing majority.

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