Dili: Thousands of East Timorese have lined the road to the capital's international airport to cheer independence hero Xanana Gusmao after he led negotiations that settled the sea border with Australia.

Loading

Gusmao, whose party lost power in parliamentary elections last year, was greeted at Dili's tiny airport on Sunday with cries of "Viva Xanana Gusmao".

He'd been abroad for the previous eight months leading the final stretch of maritime border talks.
Australia and East Timor, one of the world's youngest nations, signed a historic treaty on Tuesday drawing their maritime boundary and dividing oil and gas deposits under the seabed, ending years of bitter wrangling and opening a new chapter in relations.

For East Timor, a half-island nation of 1.5 million people who are among the poorest in the world, the treaty was a crucial economic lifeline.