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MANILA, Philippines?The late Indonesian foreign minister, Ali Alatas, was a "towering" leader of Asean, the regional bloc's secretary general Dr. Surin Pitsuwan said Thursday night, as he offered -- in behalf of all Asean -- his condolences to the family Alatas left behind.
Personally, Surin said he is "deeply saddened" by the passing of 76-year-old Alatas Thursday morning in a hospital in Singapore.
Alatas was admitted to an Indonesian hospital on November 20 but was moved to Singapore four days later.
?It is the end of an era. Bapak Ali was a towering figure not only in Asean but also in the Third World and Non-Aligned Countries. He was a great son and a true patriot of Indonesia,? he said.
?In the passing of Bapak Ali, we have not only lost a dear friend but a diplomatic giant. He was a great inspiration to us all. His permanent absence will be a big void in our regional diplomatic landscape,? he added.
Alatas was one of the 10 members of the Asean Eminent Persons Group (EPG) tasked to re-examine Asean and propose new ideas for the drafting of the Asean Charter, which will enter into force on December 15, 2008. Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos was also a member of the group.
?His contributions to the Southeast Asian region, in particular, through the Asean process, have been immeasurable. For me, since we served together as foreign ministers in the late 1990s, every conversation with Bapak Ali has always turned into an intellectual discourse on our collective achievements in the region and on our future aspirations for our people,? Surin said.
Asean groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Alatas was born on November 4, 1932 in Jakarta, and graduated from the Academy for the Indonesian Foreign Service in 1954, and from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia in 1956.
He served as foreign minister from 1988 until 1999.
He was also Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva from 1975 to 1978 and New York from 1982 to 1988, according to Antara.
In recent years he had been a UN special envoy tasked with drafting a report on development, security and human rights, and a member of the UN High Level Group on the Alliance of Civilizations. With Agence France-Presse
