The President of East Timor is in Belfast today for a fact-finding tour of nationalist and loyalist communities.
President Xanana Gusmao will visit loyalist and nationalist districts in the city to see how both communities were trying to improve the quality of lifein their districts.
He is due to travel to the loyalist Highfield estate straddling north andwest Belfast.
A visit is also planned to the Springfield Millennium Outreach Centre and Clonard Monastery in nationalist west Belfast.
Students at Belfast's first integrated college, Lagan College, where Catholic and Protestant pupils are taught, were also preparing for a visit.
Mr Gusmao's final engagement was due to be at a reception in the city organised by Amnesty International.
East Timor achieved independence in May 2002 and was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 after the withdrawal of the Portuguese. Their 25-year occupation was marked by a bloody war with guerrillas fighting for independence.
In 1999, the population overwhelmingly opted for independence in a referendum. President Gusmao was elected in April 2002 as his country's first president.