Estrada set to honor Alatas

Estrada set to honor Alatas

MANILA (DPA): Philippine President Joseph Estrada will bestow
the country's highest award for foreign diplomats to Indonesian
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas for brokering the peace process in
the war-torn region of Mindanao in 1996.

Alatas is set to arrive in Manila on Aug. 8 to personally
receive the Order of Sikatuna Award from Estrada on the ninth. He
will be given the rank of "datu", or chieftain.

A Philippine diplomat who asked not to be named said the award
will cite Alatas "not only for his contribution in peace and
stability in Asia but also for his pivotal role in brokering the
peace process in Mindanao".

Alatas headed the group of Asian Islamic nations'
representatives who assisted in the peace negotiations between
the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front,
then the largest Muslim rebel movement in the south. The talks
ended with the signing of a peace agreement in 1996, ending
decades-long of rebellion.