EAST Timor says it does not need Australian troops to help quell tensions in the country.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said yesterday that Dili was calm and he urged thousands of residents who had fled the capital to return to their homes and work.

Despite this, the US State Department urged its non-emergency personnel and family members to leave East Timor.

The US embassy in Dili said it had "received credible reports of potential communal violence and politically motivated violence".

Prime Minister John Howard told Southern Cross radio yesterday that he would consider sending troops if requested.

But a senior East Timor foreign ministry official said that the country "at this stage" did not need foreign military help.

The official, Nelson Santos, conceded that the situation in Dili was fragile and that East Timor would "look to its neighbours for assistance" should matters get "out of control".

Disaffected elements of the military and gangs of youths led a riot in Dili last weekend that left at least six people dead.

The violence was blamed on the dismissal of 600 soldiers in March, who had deserted the army over claims of discrimination.

Mr Santos said the situation in Dili was now relatively calm. Military police were returned to their barracks on Thursday and normal police patrols had begun. He said that the commission charged with investigating the grievances of the sacked soldiers had been inaugurated.

Mr Ramos Horta arrived in New York yesterday to push for the extension of the United Nations' mission in East Timor, which now ends on May 20.