An emotional UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, was greeted with cheers and tears when he arrived in East Timor yesterday, laying a wreath at a church where dozens of people were massacred during a wave of violence last year.
Mr Annan and his wife, Nane, shed a few tears as he laid the wreath in the town of Liquica, scene of some of the worst bloodshed before and after a UN-run vote which overwhelmingly chose to break away from illegal Indonesian rule.
During the sombre ceremony, there was a chorus of wailing from the 5,000-strong crowd which earlier cheered Mr Annan's arrival. "I wanted to come here because I know that Liquica was particularly hard hit by the violence of the militia last year," he told the people, some dressed in their Sunday best.
"I wanted to be able to tell you in person that the United Nations is here to help you rebuild. We want to help you recover from that tragic period in your history."
But he warned that their sufferings were not over. "These things take time. Suffering remains widespread and there will be more difficult times ahead. We will need to work very closely together and we will need patience."
A UN peacekeeping force will oversee the territory's transition to independence, taking over next Wednesday.
Arriving in the capital, Dili, Mr Annan was met by the Timorese leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, the chief of the UN mission there, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, and the outgoing commander of Interfet multinational forces, Maj Gen Peter Cosgrove.
He was also greeted by tribal dancers and troops from his homeland, Ghana. A trip to UNrun refugee camps on the border with West Timor was cancelled.
Indonesia's Antara news agency reported yesterday that 700 East Timorese had died in refugee camps in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, which includes West Timor, since September.
David Shanks adds:
Mr Annan's presence in East Timor follows closely on another symbolic visit by the President of Portugal, Mr Jorge Sampaio, who promised extra aid in education to assist the new nation. He urged unity as an "essential element" for the former Portuguese colony's renaissance.