Timor Lorosae becomes world's newest nation

Timor Lorosae becomes world's newest nation

Steven Guikin, Associated, Dili, Timor Lorosae

Timor Lorosae, a land long brutalized by foreign occupiers which until Sunday evening still known as East Timor, was declared independent Monday in a joyous ceremony, in which its red, black and gold flag replaced that of the United Nations and former freedom fighter Xanana Gusmao was sworn in as its first democratically elected president.

The world's newest country came into being with a solemn declaration of independence by parliamentary speaker Fransisco Guterres and a speech by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"I declare the establishment of the Democratic Republic of East Timor as an independent and sovereign state," Guterres said. "Glory to the heroes of our liberation."

Minutes later, Xanana Gusmao - a 55-year-old poet and former guerrilla leader - was declared the country's first head of state. Last month, he won the overwhelming majority of votes in presidential elections.

"Independence! As a people, as a territory, as a nation! One body, one mind, one wish!" said Gusmao, who served more than six years in jail in Jakarta. "Our independence will have no value, if all the people in East Timor continue to live in poverty and continue to suffer all kinds of difficulties."

Peacekeepers lowered the blue UN flag. Timor Lorosae's new national flag was escorted into the arena by a platoon of soldiers from its nascent defense force. The banner was raised as a choir sang the national anthem.

"I salute you - people of East Timor - for the courage and perseverance you have shown," Annan told an exuberant crowd as the world body officially transferred authority over the half- island territory.

"Yours has not been an easy path to independence," Annan said. "You should be very proud of your achievement. That a small nation is able to inspire the world and be the focus of our attention is the highest tribute that I can pay."

Thousands of Timor Lorosae people smiled, cheered and hugged each other in an outpouring of emotion marking the end of four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of Indonesian occupation and 2 1/2 years of interim rule by the United Nations.

Thirty minutes earlier, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri arrived at the venue accompanied by Gusmao. They held hands and raised them aloft, as the crowd cheered and clapped.

Attending the festivities were former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who officially represented the United States, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.

Earlier, Megawati was greeted by a small group of demonstrators as she paid her respects at an Indonesian military cemetery in Dili.

The new nation, with a population of 800,000, is one of the world's poorest. Unemployment is estimated at 70 percent and the World Bank says the average Timor Lorosae people lives on just 55 U.S. cents a day.

And old ghosts haunt the new country - one speck of land in the 3,000-mile-long (4,800 kilometers) archipelago that is home to 200 million Indonesians.

The territory voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN- sponsored referendum in 1999. Immediately afterward, the Indonesian military and its pro-Jakarta proxies laid waste to much of the territory in a blood bath that killed hundreds and focused international attention on the independence struggle.

Timor Lorosae has set up a truth and reconciliation commission to reveal past crimes and help people come to terms with them. The new leaders say perpetrators should be brought to justice but that nation-building, not revenge, should be the new government's priority.

Trials are underway in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to prosecute several military officers involved in the 1999 violence - but many human rights groups say the proceedings amount to a whitewash.

Indonesia will be Timor Lorosae's top foreign policy priority because of its proximity and economic dominance.

Reducing poverty will be the biggest economic challenge facing the new government. East Timor is expected to sign a treaty with Australia next week dividing oil and gas reserves under the Timor Sea.

But revenue from those reserves are not expected to kick in until 2005. In the meantime the country will be largely dependent on foreign aid.

For now, Timor Lorosae people are savoring the joy of independence.

About 500 people crowded into the residence of Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo for an Independence Day Mass earlier Sunday. They prayed in silence, but when the service was over they smiled and laughed and spoke of hopes for the future.

Bishop Belo shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Jose Ramos- Horta, the new Timor Lorosae foreign minister, for his peaceful struggle for independence.

Ramos-Horta told The Associated Press that now is a time for "peace, tolerance and forgiveness."

"We are very happy. We are a proud and simple people who deserve peace, who deserve freedom," he said.