Unknown warrior arrives at Parliament

1.00pm - By HELEN TUNNAH and NZPA

UPDATE - The Unknown Warrior arrived at Parliament today with all the pomp and ceremony the Government could muster.

The casket was carried by an honour guard to be met by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright.

With Parliament's flags flying at half mast, the military world and the Maori world met as one.

They met to receive the Unknown Warrior almost 90 years after he died in France.

The pall bearers, representatives of the three arms of the Defence Force and accompanied by the Defence chief of staff, were greeted by local Maori before the casket was moved into the Parliament Building itself.

After the casket was placed in the Legislative Council Chamber the only words of the day were spoken by Defence Force chaplain Julian Wagg.

He said: "A son of Aotearoa New Zealand, who left these shores nearly 90 years ago, has been returned home. This unknown warrior represents all who died and did not return. This soldier now lies in state and I invite you to pay tribute lest we forget."

About 150 members of the public were there to watch the ceremony.

Members of the Returned Services Association, diplomatic core, MPs and local dignitaries were also there for the occasion.

Earlier, a 50-member guard of honour formed at the Royal New Zealand Air Force's Wellington base at Rongotai, as six pallbearers -- representing the three services -- carried him to a private Defence Force ceremony.

The arrival of the Hercules was met with silence at the airport.

The aircraft remained, with engines running, on the tarmac until exactly 10am, when its cargo hold door was opened, and the slow-marching bearer party carried the coffin out to a traditional Maori welcome.

Honorary pallbearers, including the Chief of Defence Force Air Marshall Bruce Ferguson, and the heads of the army, air force and navy, met the casket at the base of the aircraft, while the honour guard saluted.

A lone piper played a lament as he was carried indoors.

The identity of the soldier remains unknown.

He was removed from an unmarked grave in the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery near the village of Longueval, France, last month by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

While officials say he is definitely a New Zealander, they have not said what was found in the grave with him.

More than 30,000 New Zealanders have been killed in wars since the start of last century.

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior will be sealed after tomorrow's interment ceremony.