Received from Joyo Indonesia News

East Timor To Become Full Member Of Non-Aligned Movement

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 6 (AP)--East Timor will join the Non-Aligned Movement 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.

"Timor will be joining NAM as a full member on the first day of the summit," Foreign Ministry Secretary-general Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak was quoted Friday as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper.

He said 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 U.S. and Soviet Union.

Now boasting 114 members, the movement's Kuala Lumpur summit will be one of the biggest international gatherings in Asia this year and comes as international debate rages about a U.S.-led war in Iraq and security fears about terrorist strikes.

Malaysia will deploy 8,000 security guards and military helicopters during the summit, when some major roads in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, will be closed.

Malaysian armed forces chief Gen. Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin said Thursday that numerous bulletproof luxury cars had been ordered to ferry government leaders during the summit, and drivers were receiving special training at Malaysia's Formula One Grand Prix track, the Bernama national news agency reported.

"After the Sept. 11 incident, the security situation has changed," Mohamad was quoted as saying. "There are some heads of state who are classified as high-risk, so we provide bulletproof cars."

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