Across East Timor thousands of voters turned up in the early hours to be sure of exercising their right.

Residents of Beacu village in the southeast of the territory give a hero's welcome to UN representative Jamshed Marker.

Dili resident Makv Lada was the first person in the East Timorese capital to cast a vote.

Many voters had walked for hours to reach the polling stations.

In one village UN staff ordered local police to remove an Indonesian flag from the polling station.

Rebel independence leader Xanana Gusmao cast his ballot in Jakarta in a vote he said gave East Timorese "their fundamental right to self-determination."

Meanwhile in Dili Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Bishop Carlos Belo, cast his vote. "Above all we must pull our sleeves up and start working to build this country," he said.

Many East Timorese had never had the opportunity to vote and could barely contain their excitement.