FOREIGN Minister Alfred Nzo “warmly welcomed” the release of East Timorese rebel leader Xanana Gusmao from prison, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Nzo who, like President Nelson Mandela visited Gusmao in jail, described the long-awaited release as an important step forward in the search for a solution to the East Timorese issue. Both Nzo and Mandela are convinced that Gusmao, who was released from the Cipinang prison in Jakarta and placed under house arrest on Wednesday, has “an important role to play in negotiations on the future” of East Timor, which Indonesia annexed in 1976. Mandela and the foreign ministry have for years been agitating for Gusmao’s release, with Mandela pressing ousted Indonesian president Suharto to free him on two occasions.