East Timorese Nobel laureate and religious leader Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo will arrive in Malaysia tomorrow for a three-day visit and deliver talk at the St Francis Xavier Church in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Belo, who received the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, will be speaking on 'Freedom and Justice' at the church on Saturday, 8pm, according to a press statement issued by human rights group Suaram.

Belo, who was ordained a Bishop in 1988, was a vocal critic of Indonesia's 24-year controversial rule in East Timor. It has been estimated that one-third of the population of East Timor lost their lives due to starvation, epidemics, war and terror.

When the people voted for a free country in a referendum towards the end of 1999, a violent civil war erupted between pro- and anti-Indonesian factions.

East Timor, located to the east of Java in the Indonesian archipelago, is currently under the administration of the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET).

Spokesperson for non-violence

Born on 1948 in a village called Wailakama, Belo is the fifth child of a school teacher Domingos Vaz Felipe.

He attended missionary schools in Baucau and Ossu and graduated from a seminary in Dare outside of the capital Dili.

According to the [#1] Free East Timor online campaign

[/#], Belo was responsible for asking the then UN secretary-general Javier Perez de Cuellar as early as 1989 to carry out a referendum for the people of East Timor.

In his efforts to create a just settlement based on his people's right to self-determination, he has been a constant spokesperson for non-violence and dialogue with the Indonesian authorities.

He was also responsible for giving sanctuary to 250 people escaping from the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre executed by the Indonesian military.