|Subject: Nobel Peace Co_laureate congratulates
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 15:57:44 +0000
From: "East Timor International Support Center" <email@example.com> MEDIA RELEASE Monday, June 15, 1998
Nobel Peace Co-Laureate congratulates Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister
East Timorese Nobel Peace Co-Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta today congratulated Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his June 2 article in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune entitled "A Wave of Creative Destruction is Sweeping Asia."
"I have just read your article in the June 2 edition of the International Herald Tribune based on your opening address at the 12th Asia-Pacific Roundtable. Please allow me to congratulate you on it. Your thoughts are most timely and appropriate. I very much hope that they will influence Asian leaders at this crucial time," wrote Ramos-Horta in an official letter to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In his article, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wrote that it was time for Asia to break out of its "encrusted mould."
"A new reality is emerging, a reality that demands modifications in the conduct of diplomacy. Globalisation, which marches on relentlessly, will redefine both the role and the sphere of the nation-state," wrote the Malaysian deputy premier.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned in the article that demand for reform, good governance and civil society in Asia is an unstoppable force.
"When the people have decided that they must internal reform, neither the political elite nor their cronies, in business or the media or anywhere else, can withstand the groundswell."
As an East Timorese, Ramos-Horta said in his letter, he felt Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's views to be of particular relevance.
"Our people have suffered for the last 23 years under the harsh military occupation of the Suharto regime. You are well aware of the horrendous toll of human suffering this has produced," wrote Ramos-Horta who, together with East Timor Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.
In 1975, Indonesia troops acting under orders from President Suharto invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese enclave. It was annexed as an Indonesian province the next year. As a result of the invasion, over 200,000 East Timorese died as a result of either fighting the Indonesians or from disease and hunger. The United Nations does not recognise Indonesia's rule over East Timor and still considers Portugal as the territory's administrator.
The Nobel Peace Co-Laureate said he trusted the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister to play an important role in the "changes Asian peoples so much desire and history demands."
"We therefore are also confident that you will not ignore, in the name of realpolitik, the plight of the people of East Timor, and support their struggle for a future of freedom and respect for human rights. It is hoped that the new Indonesian leadership will take note of your words, especially in view of their strong relevance to the issue of East Timor," Ramos-Horta wrote in his letter.
For further details please contact Sonny Inbaraj in Darwin, Australia at +61-8-8948-4458. Jose Ramos-Horta can be contacted in Lisbon, Portugal at +351-1-886-3723/ Fax +351-1-886-3791
'EAST TIMOR ON THE NET' For the latest updates, news and views on East Timor and Indonesia Visit http://www.easttimor.com maintained by the East Timor International Support Center Hon Chairman: Jose Ramos-Horta Nobel Peace Laureate 1996