East Timor leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta will be making a three-day visit to Kuala Lumpur next month.

"The two leaders are tentatively scheduled to be in town from Feb 7 to 9 as part of an East Asian tour," Solidaritas Timor Timor representative Elizabeth Wong told malaysiakini today.

Wong said that the two leaders would be meeting a number of government officials. However, it is unclear whether they are meeting government leaders.

Their visit to Malaysia is expected to open old wounds. The Malaysian government had never supported the struggle for independence in East Timor. In 1996, a government-organised mob violently stopped the Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), which was held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The conference, organised by a number of Malaysian NGOs, sought a peaceful resolution to the East Timor conflict. The fracas resulted in the arrests of 60-odd local participants and the deportation of all foreign delegates. In addition, the government had kept mum on the killing of Malaysian student Kamal Bamadhaj in the 1991 Dili massacre by Indonesian troops.

Wong, who is also coordinator of human rights group Suaram, said that Gusmao and Ramos-Horta would also be meeting NGOs and East Timor supporters while in Malaysia.

"Solidaritas Timor Timor and Suaram will arrange and host meetings between the East Timor leaders and NGOs in the country," she said.

Gusmao and Ramos-Horta will begin a six-nation, 18-day tour this Sunday, starting with China. Apart from Malaysia and China, they will also be visiting South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

"The tour aims to seek technical support and assistance for East Timor in various areas especially education through talks with government officials in East Asia," said Wong. In addition, they will be getting feedback on the possibility of East Timor joining Asean.

Gusmao, a former guerilla leader, was arrested in 1992 and later jailed in Indonesia for 20 years on firearms charges and for plotting against East Timor. He was released from prison last year to head a newly independent East Timor after a historic referendum. Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate, had been the leading international spokesman for East Timor's cause since the half island was invaded by Indonesia in 1975.