Megawati to witness East Timor independence

Indonesian President Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri will fly to East Timor on Sunday for its declaration of independence.

Indonesian President Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri will fly to East Timor on Sunday for its declaration of independence.

Ms Megawati will spend four hours in the East Timor capital Dili after arriving at 10 p.m. (2 p.m. Irish time) on Sunday for the midnight declaration.

Two jet fighters will escort Ms Megawati's flight, and an Indonesian warship will berth at Dili port.

"Not even an ant will touch her," a regional commander, Col Muswarno Musanip, said, quoted by the state Antaranews agency.

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Media reports say a rapid deployment battalion of about 700 to 800 men arrived at Kupang in Indonesian West Timor to prepare for Ms Megawati's visit to East Timor.

Col Musanip said the special security precautions were not a "show of force" but were internationally recognised standard procedure for a presidential visit.

The visit by the presidential guard will be the first time that Indonesian forces have returned to East Timor since the army pulled out in September 1999, after the territory voted for independence the previous month.

AFP