Australian govt honors Ali Alatas

Australian govt honors Ali Alatas

CANBERRA (Reuters): Australia rewarded Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas with a top honor for helping to mend the strained relations between the two nations.

"He is a foreign minister who really counts and has made a difference," said Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans after Alatas was named an Officer in the Order of Australia.

The honor, which bestows on Alatas a beribonned gold coin decorated with wattle leaves, was listed among a small number of honorary awards presented to foreigners.

Welcoming Alatas' honor, Evans likened ties between the two nations in 1988, when Alatas came to office, as "of precarious health, sometimes sick, sometimes healthy, but always needing the worried supervision of diplomatic doctors".

But he said in a statement Alatas played a major role in deepening bilateral relations into "the robust, dynamic, multi- layered and multi-dimensional relationship we now have with Indonesia".

During Alatas' term, Indonesia and Australia established a joint ministerial commission and signed the Timor Gap Treaty allowing for joint exploitation of the sea off Timor Island.

Thailand's Mechai Viravaidya, known as "Mr Condom" for his fight against AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), was named an Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia for his work against the deadly disease.