Thailand to shun ceremony in Oslo

Wed, 11 Dec 1996, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will not send representatives to the
award of the Nobel Peace Prize to two East Timorese, reports said
yesterday.

The Thai ambassador to Norway, where the Peace Prize was
handed yesterday, told the Bangkok Post that he had turned down
an invitation to attend the ceremony.

Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, bishop of the East Timor capital
Dili, and Jose Ramos Horta, spokesman in exile of the East
Timorese resistance, jointly received the prize.

However, ambassador Suphasin Jayanama would only say he was
not attending the ceremony in Oslo for reasons "related to
official business." Thailand and Indonesia are members of ASEAN,
whose members staunchly support the principle of non-interference
in the internal affairs of other countries.

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