KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Timor-Leste President Xanana Gusmao has formally asked the Malaysian government to deploy its troops on the Timor-Leste and Indonesian border as civilians are starting to flee the country, reports said here on Sunday.

    The request was made during a closed-door meeting at Gusmao's palace between the Timor-Leste government and a group of Malaysian peacekeeping officers late Saturday, Malaysian National News Agency Bernama said.

    The Malaysian peacekeepers had to get the Malaysian Government's clearance on the matter because the area was too far and more manpower was needed, said Ismet Nayan, head of the Malaysian peacekeeping contingent in Timor-Leste.

    Since the outbreak of clashes between sacked soldiers and government troops, thousands of people were moving out of Timor-Leste and heading for Indonesia, Bernanma said.

    Currently, the Malaysian troops were guarding several strategic locations, such as embassies, power stations, oil depots and hospitals in Dili, capital of Timor-Leste.

    A 200-member strong Malaysian special military contingent arrived in Timor-Leste to help quell the clashes in the tiny island nation.

    In another development, Australian Prime Minister John Howard Sunday praised the Malaysian Government for its quick assistance in sending 200-strong troops to help solve the Timor-Leste crisis.

    He said that he had a very positive discussions over phone on Friday evening with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi Ahmed who was in Japan for a five-day working visit.

    Malaysia's participation gave a slightly different texture to the operations in Timor-Leste and the Australian and Malaysian forces were working together in a cooperative manner, Howard said.

    The presence of Australian, Malaysian and coalition forces had helped diminish the violence considerably in Timor-Leste, Howard said, but noting restoring stability there would be "quite a challenging" process. Enditem