SYDNEY - An Indonesian soldier died in a thwarted attempt to assassinate East Timor's Catholic leader, the Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Belo, in Dili late last year, an Australian bishop said today.
Auxiliary Bishop Hilton Deakin of Melbourne said he had received information from East Timor that the attempt was to have been made as; Bishop Belo returned from the Nobel Peace Prize presentation in Norway on November 10th. Bishop Deakin said an Indonesian soldier had been paid to kill the bishop outside the Dili Cathedral but the plot was foiled by locals who attacked and killed the soldier.