Belo arrives in Oslo to receive Nobel Prize

Belo arrives in Oslo to receive Nobel Prize

OSLO (AFP): Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of East Timor arrived early yesterday in Oslo, where he will receive the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

Belo, who flew in from Singapore, was met at the airport by Francis Sejersted, the head of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

The bishop of the East Timor capital Dili will hold a press conference later today and be formally awarded the prize tomorrow.

Belo and East Timor separatist Jose Ramos Horta will share this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Airport authorities said two Indonesian embassy officials were waiting for Belo in the airport's VIP lounge.

Belo was accompanied by his younger sister Julieta Filipe and his nephew Amandio de Araujo, representing East Timorese youth, as well as two religious representatives, Father Domingos Sequera and Lucia Gusmao, a nun.

In Dili, East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares said Saturday Belo's speech in Oslo would not be "weighted by politics".

"Bishop Belo did not give a copy of his speech to me, but he briefly explained that the text he had prepared did not carry political weights. His speech will be about Christ's teachings," Abilio said.

This means the bishop has gone to Oslo as a leader of Roman Catholics, not only from East Timor, but also from Indonesia.

The governor said the bishop would have liked to have given him a copy of the speech, but could not because the Nobel Prize Committee had the copyright to it.

The bishop, who is sharing this year's Nobel Peace Prize with East Timor separatist spokesman Jose Ramos-Horta, left for Oslo Friday. Governor Abilio saw him off at Komoro airport.

"I bade him farewell and expressed my hopes that as a Roman Catholic leader, he could see the East Timor problem more clearly ... for the sake of the East Timorese people in general and the Roman Catholic followers in Indonesia," Abilio said.

"We cannot think only of ourselves. There are Catholics in other places in Indonesia. So I prayed to the bishop and reminded him that whatever we do here in East Timor, will affect other Catholics in other parts of the archipelago." he said.

Known for his often scathing criticism of the Indonesian government, the bishop is traveling on an Indonesian passport. This makes him the first Indonesian to win the prestigious award. (33/emb)