BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- Thousands of people poured into the flag-bedecked riverside capital of Brunei today to attend ceremonies that will mark the oil-rich state's full independence from British rule after 96 years.
More than 50,000 people -- the largest assembly in the nearly 500-year history of the Brunei sultanate -- were expected to hear Sultan Sir Muda Hassanal Bolkiah, 37, declare an end to British power over foreign affairs and defense -- the last remnants of British control that began in 1888.
At the stroke of the New Year, with three shouts of 'Allah Akbar' (God is Great) and a 21-gun salute, the Islamic nation of 205,000 people becomes the world's newest independent country and one of the wealthiest.
The new official name of the 2,226-square-mile country on the north coast of Borneo is Brunei Darussalam -- Brunei, the abode of peace.
There will be no lowering of the British flag; it was replaced in Brunei when the state regained control of its internal affairs with a written constitution in 1959.
But as a symbol of independence, British High Commissioner Francis Cornish will leave the colonial residence from which British officials have run the affairs of Brunei. A British battalion of gurkhas, however, will remain in the country for five years to bolster national defense.
A new government structure with a limited number of ministries will be announced in January, officials said.
Brunei immediately becomes a member of the British Commonwealth and plans to join the non-communist Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a ministerial meeting Jan. 7 in Jakarta.
Officials said independent Brunei will pursue a conservative, anti-communist foreign policy and will welcome foreign business activity. U.S. bankers and businessmen predicted new opportunities as Brunei continues its rapid growth and starts to diversify its traditional dependence on Britain.
Oil and gas, exported largely to Japan, the United States and Southeast Asia, have given Brunei a per capita income of $22,000 and reserves of about $14 billion.
The vast petroleum income and careful management of state expenses have left Brunei free of debt.
It has also enabled the sultan's government to provide a tax-free cushion of benefits and services that has muted objections to his autocratic rule.
Most of the hundreds of political prisoners held after an abortive rebellion in 1962 have been released. Three detainees held for alleged subversion are to be released on Independence day, leaving less than 20 dissidents in custody.
