He also denied that he was planning to visit Malaysia to take part in a human rights festival in Kuala Lumpur next month.

Chomsky, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is best known for his opposition to Israel, told Dr Chandra Muzaffar that reports of him coming to Malaysia were just a rumour.

“I’ve received several letters about this, but the rumours are false. I’d be happy to agree if I were visiting, but there are no plans to do so,” he said in an email to Chandra.

In his email to Chomsky, Chandra, who heads the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), had asked if the former could give a talk that they would organise in conjunction with his visit.

Speaking to FMT, Chandra said he was surprised to read about Chomsky’s supposed visit.

“If he was coming, JUST would know about it,” he said, adding that Chomsky had been a member of the movement’s international advisory panel for over 20 years.

Yesterday, Hishamuddin Rais, a board member of the Forces of Renewal for Southeast Asia, which is organising the event, told FMT that Chomsky would be attending the conference.

“Chomksy, who is an institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be commenting on Southeast Asian politics,” he said.

The conference is part of the Pesta Demokrasi to be held from Feb 11 to 17 at Publika, Kuala Lumpur.

Other prominent speakers at the conference include former Indonesian attorney-general Marzuki Darusman, who is now chair of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an academic from Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies.