Japan will contribute a "substantial" sum to a United Nations trust fund to finance a multinational force intended to restore order in East Timor, but will not dispatch any personnel until stability has been established, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said at a press conference Thursday.

Komura said Japan will also provide $2 million in "initial" emergency humanitarian aid, mainly to East Timorese refugees, by giving $1 million each to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program, Komura said.

Tokyo intends to come up with longer-term assistance to help rehabilitate and develop East Timor, Komura said.

"Japan is ready to make large contributions to restore stability in East Timor," Komura said. "The nature of these contributions will be financial." He added, however, that Japan will consider sending personnel on the "humanitarian side" after order is restored.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said the same day that Japan welcomes the U.N. Security Council's resolution to send international troops to East Timor to restore order in the violence- ridden territory.

Nonaka made his remark after the UNSC voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a resolution that would allow Australian-led troops to use all necessary force to subdue the killings and destruction in the territory.

"I hope the situation in East Timor will be made stable soon through the activities of the multinational force, in cooperation with the Indonesian government," Nonaka said during a regular news conference.

Komura also expressed Japan's support for the UNSC resolution.

He said Japan would contribute money to a planned U.N. trust fund to finance the activities of the multinational force when the U.N. sets up the fund.

"Some countries, such as Australia, have expressed their willingness to send troops at their own expense, while others may suffer financially if they join the international force," he said. "Japan will financially support the latter camp by contributing to the fund."

Komura reiterated that Japan cannot contribute any personnel to the multinational force because of legal constraints.

"According to laws that regulate Japan's peacekeeping operations, Japanese personnel cannot join a non-U.N. multinational force like the one formed now, even if it has U.N. authorization," he said.

For the time being, Tokyo will closely monitor the situation in East Timor and send a research mission there to assess what kind of humanitarian contributions Japan can make, Komura said.