World leaders arrive to welcome new nation

In morning prayers, Bishop Carlos Belo called for all East Timorese to celebrate independence in peace

DILI, East Timor (CNN) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has arrived in the East Timorese capital, calling on the world to welcome the territory's transition to an independent nation.

"In less than 12 hours, East Timor will be an independent country, a moment of pride and liberation," Annan said at an afternoon briefing.

"This moment belongs, above all , to the people of East Timor who have so richly earned their freedom."

Annan will formally transfer authority from the world body to the new East Timorese administration at the stroke of midnight.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, one of many international leaders in Dili for the independence celebration, also praised the "first new nation of the 21st century."

IN-DEPTH East Timor: Birth of a Nation    WEB MOVIE Flash intro: Birth of a Nation    RESOURCES Photo gallery: Voices of Timor  Photo gallery: Countdown to a new nation    PROFILES • Xanana Gusmao  • Jose Ramos-Horta  • Bishop Belo    CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Atika Shubert reports on how observers are rating the performance of the United Nations as it prepares to hand over administrative duties to a newly independent East Timor. Play video • East Timor video archive    EAST TIMOR • Timeline: Road to nationhood  • Country profile

"Tomorrow, the hard work of a free people facing daunting challenges begins," he said.

"The world, including the World Bank, East Timor's neighbors, the United States, must help in facing those challenges. But the people of East Timor will forge their own future."

Earlier Sunday, Nobel Peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo led the people of East Timor in prayers for peace as the territory counts down the final hours before independence.

In a dawn mass held at the bishop's residence he asked the congregation to pray for country's new government and its recently elected president, Xanana Gusmao, to guide the new nation towards a better future.

"We hope that the Holy Spirit will come to all the people of East Timor so they can celebrate independence in peace," he said.

East Timor is a devoutly Roman Catholic country and for many East Timorese the church has been the sole source of hope during the years of violence that have wracked this small nation.

Among those in the Dili congregation were diplomats and several members of the new East Timorese government, including Belo's fellow Nobel Peace laureate, Jose Ramos Horta.

Ramos Horta, who holds the post of foreign minister in the new nation's government, said after the ceremony that he felt "simply great."

He said the raising of the East Timorese flag at midnight Sunday and the formal handover of power from the United Nations would mark "a new beginning for East Timor -- but with many challenges ahead."

"We have a lot of work to do to find jobs for those who need them," he said.

Bishop Belo is expected to lead another mass later in the day at which he will formally bless the new East Timorese flag.

Handover

Representatives from some 90 nations are due to attend the formal handover of power Sunday night at the Tacitolu arena on the outskirts of the capital, Dili.

Among them will be several current and former national leaders including Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

For the past two and a half years the U.N. flag has flown over East Timor as the organization helped guide reconstruction efforts following the violence that surrounded the independence vote in 1999.

Then heavily armed pro-Indonesian militia, backed by their supporters in the Indonesian military, went on the rampage after East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with Jakarta.

Their efforts left much of the country destroyed, forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes and left unknown numbers dead.

Young and impoverished

Foreign Minister and former independence leader Jose Ramos Horta says many challenges lie ahead

The ceremony itself will mark a formal end to East Timor's ties with Indonesia and set it on course as a fully fledged democratic nation -- albeit one of the world's poorest.

The new country faces massive social problems, not least of which an unemployment rate estimated at 70 percent and high rate of illiteracy.

But despite such concerns, most East Timorese are hopeful about the future even if they don't see their lives being transformed by independence.

In all some 200,000 East Timorese are expected to attend the independence ceremony itself -- more than a quarter of the new nation's population.

Annan, along with the other international guests and members of the new government will sit on a stage constructed from East Timorese bamboo -- a material which organizers are keen to point out is one of the strongest bamboos in the world.

Shortly after the new nation's flag is raised, a massive fireworks display donated by the Thai and Chinese governments will be set off.

Almost all the overseas guests of honor will be arriving just hours before the ceremony, presenting a logistical nightmare for security officials.

More than 30 flights are scheduled to land at Dili's tiny Comoro Airport which usually only sees two or three civilian flights a day and has no radar.

Asked how airport authorities will handle such a number of aircraft arrivals, one official said simply "delicately."