Jakarta – Indonesia's president will attend next month's independence celebration in the country's former territory East Timor, a palace spokesman said Saturday.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri will be among at least 15 heads of state attending the May 20 celebration for the world's newest nation. They include the president and prime minister of Portugal, which ended its colonial rule of East Timor in 1975.

Megawati will attend the midnight festivities but not stay overnight in Dili, the East Timor capital, said her spokesman, Garibaldi Sudjatmiko. East Timor President-elect Xanana Gusmao also will be inaugurated that day.

Indonesia took control of the half-island territory after the end of Portuguese rule. When the East Timorese voted for independence in 1999, elements of the Indonesian military mounted a campaign of killing, looting and burning that killed hundreds of people and forced 250,000 to flee their homes.

International peacekeepers intervened to halt the violence, and East Timor has been under UN rule since 1999.

Indonesian ties with East Timor have since improved significantly. Tensions eased during the administration of Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first democratically elected president after three decades of military rule.

Megawati already has met East Timorese leaders several times in Jakarta. Her visit to East Timor has been opposed by some lawmakers, who say there are numerous unresolved issues between the two nations. Megawati also is scheduled to visit neighboring West Timor.