E. Timor to join NAM summit

E. Timor to join NAM summit

KUALA LUMPUR: East Timor will join the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of developing nations when leaders meet at a summit in Kuala Lumpur later this month, officials said.

East Timor, which became the world's newest nation in May after centuries of Portuguese colonial and 24 years of brutal military rule by Indonesia, would become the movement's 115th member, said Malaysian organizers of the Feb. 20-25 meeting.

Foreign Ministry Secretary-general Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak told the New Straits Times newspaper on Friday that the East Timor delegation was expected to be led by President Jose Xanana Gusmao, who would be among more than 50 leaders to attend the summit.

The Non-Aligned Movement was formed during the Cold War by mostly smaller developing countries as a vehicle to maintain neutrality between the United States and Soviet Union. --AP