News Briefs (February 2006)

Friday, February 24, 2006

Nobel Nominations Announced

A near-record 191 Nobel Peace Prize nominations have been made for 2006, including a Finnish peace mediator, Indonesia's president, two Irish rock stars and a former US Secretary of State. Announced nominations include former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for helping secure a peace deal in the Aceh conflict. Former US secretary of state Colin Powell was nominated for his effort to end Sudan’s civil war. Bob Geldof, the former leader of Irish pop group the Boomtown Rats, was nominated for organizing last year’s Live 8 benefit concerts, while another Irish singer, U2 frontman Bono, was proposed for his efforts to relieve poverty. US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and longtime Iran investigator Kenneth R Timmerman were nominated by a Swedish lawmaker.

The award is always presented on December 10, the anniversary of the death of its founder, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo, and the other Nobel Prizes are presented in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. (AP)

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Indonesian President will Visit Burma Next Week

Indonesia's president will discuss Burma’s democracy efforts with junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe during a visit to the military-ruled nation next week, a presidential spokesman said Thursday. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will arrive in Burma on March 1 for a two-day visit, said Dino Pati Djalal.

The trip will be the first by a regional leader since December, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations publicly called on Burma to release political prisoners and speed up moves toward democracy. Yudhoyono intends to meet Than Shwe to "discuss Myanmar's [Burma’s] efforts on its road map to democracy," which is supposed to lead to free elections, said Djalal. The United States and European countries complain that Asean has done little to force democracy in Myanmar, whose junta keeps pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and has jailed hundreds of dissidents.