PROFILE

Liu Xiaobo, he is hero

2010-10-09T20:36:00.006-05:00

Liu Xiaobo (born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese intellectual, writer, and human rights activist and a political prisoner in China. He has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained in response to his participation with Charter 08. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.

During his 4th prison term from 2009 to 2020, he won the Nobel Peace Prize on 8 October 2010, for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."

On 7 October 2010, Norwegian TV networks reported that Liu Xiaobo was a candidate for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. On 8 October 2010 the Nobel Committee awarded him the Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjørn Jagland said the choice of Liu as the recipient of the prize had become clear early on in the process. The Chinese foreign ministry had previously warned the Nobel committee not to give Liu the prize, as they said that it would be against Nobel principles.

All news about the announcement of the award was immediately censored in China. Foreign news broadcasters including CNN and the BBC were immediately blacked out after mentioning the award in China. Web searches for Liu Xiabo were immediately deleted and no information can be searched about him in China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement that said, "The Nobel Peace Prize is meant to award individuals who promote international harmony and friendship, peace and disarmament. Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law. Awarding the peace to Liu runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize." The state-run Xinhua News Agency later carried a report saying that awarding Liu Xiaobo the prize “defiles” (亵渎) Alfred Nobel's purpose of creating this prize and "may harm China-Norway relations". The spokeperson added that Liu had broken Chinese law and his "actions run contrary to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize."

In response to the award announcement, there were messages of congratulations from the world’s leaders. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, stated that, "The decision of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is a strong message of support to all those around the world who, sometimes with great personal sacrifice, are struggling for freedom and human rights." The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the award “shines a spotlight on the situation of human rights defenders worldwide,” and the Foreign Secretary William Hague continued asking for Liu’s release from jail. US President Barack Obama said in a statement, “By granting the prize to Mr. Liu, the Nobel Committee has chosen someone who has been an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non-violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected. We call on the Chinese government to release Mr. Liu as soon as possible.” The Dalai Lama praised the decision, and called on the Chinese government to release the jailed Liu and launch political, legal and constitutional reforms.

The Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on 8 October 2010 and was presented with an official complaint against the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo. Seeing as the Chinese government had threatened Norwegian officials with "negative reactions" if the prize were to be given Liu, Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre, in advance of an official Chinese response to the Nobel Prize committee's decision, commented that a Chinese complaint to the Norwegian government is unnecessary, as the Nobel Prize nomination committee is independent from the Norwegian government (it is appointed by the Parliament of Norway.), adding that said independence may be difficult for the Chinese government to understand.

Liu was born in Changchun, Jilin, in 1955 to an intellectual family. From 1969 to 1973, he was taken by his father to the Horqin Right Front Banner of Inner Mongolia during the Down to the Countryside Movement. At the age of 19, it was once again arranged for him to work in a village in Jilin province and later at a construction company.

In 1976, he studied at Jilin University and obtained a B.A. degree in literature in 1982 and an M.A. degree in 1984 from Beijing Normal University.

After graduation, Liu joined the faculty at Beijing Normal University, where he also received a Ph.D. degree in 1988.

In the 1980s, his most important essays, Critique on Choices - Dialogue with Le Zehou and Aesthetics and Human Freedom earned him fame in the academic field. The essay criticised a prominent Chinese thinker Li Zehou's philosophy.

Between 1988 and 1989, he was a visiting scholar at several universities outside of China, including Columbia University, the University of Oslo and the University of Hawaii.

During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests he was in the United States but decided to go back to China to join the movement. He was later named as one of the "Four Junzis of Tiananman Square" by many Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based Chinese media.
Human rights activities

Liu Xiaobo is a human rights activist who has called on the Chinese government to be accountable for its actions. He has been detained, arrested and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities, beginning with his participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and on four other occasions since.

In January 1991, Liu Xiaobo was convicted on charges of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement," but he was exempt from criminal punishment. In October 1996, he was ordered to serve three years of re-education through labor on charges of "disturbing public order" for criticizing the Communist Party of China. In 2007, Liu was briefly detained and questioned about articles he wrote which were published online on websites hosted outside Mainland China.

Liu's human rights work has received international recognition. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders honored Liu's human rights work, awarding him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom. (www.rainbowdiplomacy.com/wikipedia)

The Berry was eventually transferred

2010-02-17T18:54:00.004-06:00

By: Yoedi Karyono

Statue of President of the United States (U.S.) Barrack Hussein Obama, who called at the time he was little was Berry. Statue of a child in short pants with a T-shirt with Obama's face a little time and a bow in his hand and was nearly four in Menteng Park since the day Sunday, February 14, 2010, dismantled the night of Menteng Park. The statue is scheduled to be built back in primary school 01 Menteng in Central Jakarta, where the Berry school for two years when he was in Jakarta in 60's.

Berry statue that had been in Menteng Park which houses the public spaces created before kontoversi and criticism, especially from the indigenous Betawi figures Jakarta and several mass organizations in Jakarta from Betawi Rempug Forum (FBR), Forum Betawi Families (Forkabi) and Betawi cultural. "Is not there anyone else who contributed to the city of Jakarta is a more worthy place Menteng Park, so Obama was there," said Ridwan Saidi Betawi cultural.

Governor Fauzi Bowo that when he placed the statue which was also inaugurated to feel uncomfortable with all the criticism and criticism, and finally secretly before midnight on Sunday, Berry statue dismantled and moved to the Elementary School Menteng 01. "At that place the statue Berry safer and more decent place," said Ridwan.

If you want in Menteng Park, continued Ridwan, anyone can put those who have contributed least to the development and advancement of Jakarta. They include Muhammad Husni Thamrin, and many other characters more clearly merit. "If Obama is what his services to progress in Jakarta. He was in Indonesia because they happened to join his mother who was married to an Indonesian, and now happens to Obama becomes U.S. President."

Berry small statue in Menteng Park may seem forced, and it all led to controversy and criticism. Some friends when together Menteng elementary school in 01 was very familiar with Obama. Yet when Obama was sworn in January 2009 no one friend who was familiar Obama was invited specially by Obama.

Ron Muller along with a few people in Indonesia, such as Mien Uno, Dalton Tanonaka, Surya Paloh and some famous people in Jakarta and their friends is the originator of ideas Berry built a statue of Obama finally placed in the Menteng Park. Indonesia will lose "if it moved the statue outside Obama Menteng Park, let alone to remove the statue," said Ron Muller.
Up to now, have not felt any benefits to Taman Menteng, Jakarta or the town school where Obama had been for two years in Jakarta.

Then on 22 until February 23 next President Obama planned to conduct a state visit and a working visit in Indonesia, but Jakarta is Obama and his family planned to visit Borobudur. (photo:Dana Anwari/www.rainbowdiplomacy.com)

Who is Mahinda Rajapaksa?

2010-01-28T20:48:00.005-06:00

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa won re-election, Wednesday (27/1), although the announcement was a victory of opposition from other candidates of General Sarath Fonseka.

Election Commission of Sri Lanka states, Rajapaksa collecting 57.8 percent from 10.4 million votes contested. Instead Fonseka, Rajapaksa colleagues in the civil war ended over 25 years in Sri Lanka to face Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, collecting 40.2 percent. "Mahinda Rajapaksa has won the presidential election," says Chief Election Commission of Sri Lanka Dayananda Dissanayake.

Rajapaksa was born in Weerakatiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota. He hails from a well known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. D.M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Councillor for Hambantota in the 1930s who started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan (finger millet) cultivated by the people of his area, whose cause he championed throughout his life. It is from his example that Rajapaksa wears his characteristic shawl.

Rajapaksa was educated at Richmond College, Galle before moving to Nalanda College Colombo and later Thurstan College, Colombo. He also had a few cameo roles as a movie actor in Sinhalese movies and worked as a library assistant at Vidyodaya University.

Following the death of his father in 1967, Rajapaksa took over as the SLFP candidate for Beliatta constituency and was elected to Parliament in 1970 as the youngest Member of Parliament at the age of 24. Later he studied law at the Sri Lanka Law College and took oaths as an attorney-at-law in November 1977. Throughout his parliamentary career, except for the period from 1994-2001 when he was a minister, he continued his law practice in Tangalle.

He lost his parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in 1977. During the 1985 by-election campaign in the Mulkirigala electorate in Hambantota district, for which his brother Chamal Rajapaksa contested representing the SLFP, during this time Mahinda was remanded for allegations of possession of unauthorized fire arms, but he was cleared of charges due to lack of evidence.

In 1989 he was re-elected to Parliament to represent Hambantota District under Proportional Representation. He came into prominence as a leader, together with Manorani Saravanamuttu, of the Mothers Front, which organised the mothers of the "disappeared" in the white terror of 1988-90 instigated by a rebel group that called themselves Deshapremi Jathika Vyaparaya or 'Patriotic National Movement'

Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; known as Mahinda Rajapaksa (born November 18, 1945) is the 6th and current President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and served as prime minister from April 6, 2004 until his victory in the 2005 Presidential election. He was sworn in for a six-year term as president on November 19, 2005. He was re-elected for a second term in office on January 27, 2010. He was conferred with Doctor of Law by the University of Colombo on September 6, 2009. (rainbowdiplomacy.com/wikipedia/photo:thehindu.com)

One year, Obama charisma decreased

2010-01-24T20:56:00.003-06:00

By Suzie S Sudarman

President Barack Obama in the presidential campaign represents himself as a character as if conciliation has been made to create a balance and have the intuition that can unite and act as a leader and not a breaker healer.

However, a year later, President Obama deal with it very ironic, which is a major defeat in the election of Democrat Governor of Virginia, New Jersey, and Senator in Massachusetts, in addition to poll public opinion about him and the policies that tend to decrease.

According to the poll in The Economist, the United States (U.S.) still like President Obama, but not the performance. Columnist EJ Dionne (2010) explains this phenomenon as a failure of the liberals turned conservative narrative about President Obama, or others, such as Alvin Felzenberg (2010), a political science expert, said that the American people love Obama and his family, but now increasingly dubious competence levels.

The views on the fact the subject of conversation Political Science expert Aaron Wildavsky (1975) in the past. According to Wildavsky, Americans do not have a president, but he has two presidency (two presidencies); one which deals with domestic issues and others are more concerned with matters of defense and foreign policy. Usainya since World War II, President of the United States was more successful mastering issues concerning defense and foreign affairs than domestic policy control.

Wildavsky's view as a concrete example in one year tenure of President Obama needs a new balance. As where typically, each party in the U.S. has a policy preferences change very little and make it easier to adjust the president compared with foreign issues.

The development is now increasingly difficult world responded to the changes. Collective vision of world order that is still far from perfect and does not guarantee protection against major conflicts that can arise at any time between the forces of major powers in the world (the world's great powers). To establish a global order of the 21st century better, the U.S. continually seeks to form various circuits of cooperation. According to Zbigniew Brzezinski (2010), President Obama managed to redefine the world view the U.S. and state mengoneksi and strategy by the historical context of the 21st century that appears to be easy to overcome the challenges of the global geopolitical and other issues. However, because President Obama is expected to focus on the definition of big domestic issues of foreign policy, the U.S. was vulnerable in its implementation.

He did manage to boost the U.S. image in the world, but high unemployment in the U.S. also threatened his reputation as a moderate leader who could overcome the U.S. economic recession. Although it is too early to measure the success of President Obama would make a priority, there are some short-term urgent issues that can be used to test the ability and determination to reshape the American political paradigm and overcome its domestic economic problems.

Strategic Creativity

Clearly, the U.S. now need a program providing a solid job, not enough to simply focus on the problem of health services (health care). 787 billion stimulus package aimed dollars to stop the trend as unemployment reached 7.6 percent, now that number reaches 10 percent, so President Obama can not get out too quickly from the economic stimulus program. Another problem facing the Democrats is health care legislation has had on the public as karikaturkan by big government programs (big government) are going about high tax rates and would lead to defeat in the elections through November 2010.

As is the case with President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR), President Obama inheriting the U.S. who are experiencing severe recession. Like FDR, President Obama finished his campaign with a promise to act decisively against the greedy bankers and confirmed the prospect of profits for a handful of people will no longer be able to dictate the fate of other people. However, Americans and then assess and suspect that President Obama is not really sincere because he needed campaign funds from Wall Street.

A year later, just after the Democratic defeat in Massachusetts, President Obama following up his promise and seeks to apply Jobs Bill (Law Employment Provision) in the form of stimulus legislation that includes tax deferred small business that provides employment and for those who seek make his home more energy efficient.

Themes budget restrictions will color State of the Union address of his in Congress. The deficit this year of 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars certainly increase the amount of national debt of 12 trillion U.S. dollars, and President Obama's plan for a bipartisan commission to recommend a reduction to the budget deficit by the end of 2010.

Anti tax

Even if President Obama promised reform U.S. capitalism, many people who believe that the progressive goal will not be achieved because of U.S. history shows the necessity of continuing activism organized trade unions and the unemployed in high levels in order to achieve a structural change. There will never be the legislation of civil rights that can be enacted without the existence of a mass movement that was effective.

In the reign of Obama's ironic that just the other managed to do the collection, calling itself Movement Tea Party (Tea Party movement) and to protest President Obama, the federal budget, a stimulus package, and the possibility of increased taxation in the future. The name "Tea Party" refers to U.S. history, the Boston Tea Party against taxation by the colonial British. And the acronym "TEA" is short for the word already taxed enough (is enough in taxes).
Suzie S Sudarman Chairman American Area Studies Center, University of Indonesia
(www.rainbowdiplomacy.com/Kompasdaily January 25, 2010/google translate)

Who is Manmohan Singh?

2010-01-22T23:20:00.005-06:00

Manmohan Singh (born September 26, 1932) is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. He is also the first Sikh to hold the post. Earlier, during his tenure as the Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, Singh was widely credited for carrying out economic reforms in India in 1991 which resulted in the end of the infamous Licence Raj system.

Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26 September 1932, in Gah, Punjab (now in Chakwal District, Pakistan), British India, into a Sikh family. He lost his mother when he was very young, and he was raised by his paternal grandmother, to whom he was very close. He was a hard working student who studied by candlelight, as his village did not have electricity. After the Partition of India, he migrated to Amritsar, India. He attended Punjab University, Chandigarh studying Economics and attaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and 1954 respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. He went on to read for the Economics Tripos at Cambridge University as a member of St John's College. (In the Oxbridge tradition, holders of the BA degree with honours are entitled in due course to an MA degree.) He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and 1957. He was also one of the few recipients of the Wrenbury scholarship. In 1962, Singh completed his DPhil from the University of Oxford where he was a member of Nuffield College. The title of his doctoral thesis was "India’s export performance, 1951-1960, export prospects and policy implications", and his thesis supervisor was Dr I M D Little. From this thesis he published the book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth".

In 1997, the University of Alberta presented him with an Honorary Doctor of Laws. The University of Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in June 2006, and in October 2006, the University of Cambridge followed with the same honour. St. John's College further honored him by naming a PhD Scholarship after him, the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship.

After completing his D.Phil, Singh worked for UNCTAD(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) from 1966–1969. During the 1970s, he taught at the University of Delhi and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Trade with then Cabinet Minister for Foreign Trade Lalit Narayan Mishra and for Finance Ministry of India. In 1982, he was appointed the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held the post until 1985. He went on to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987.

An economist by profession, Singh was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987 and the Finance Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, currently serving his fourth term.

Manmohan Singh is a graduate of Punjab University, Chandigarh, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. After serving as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Singh was appointed as the Union Minister of Finance in 1991 by then-Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. During his tenure as the Finance Minister, Singh was widely credited for carrying out economic reforms in India in 1991 which resulted in the end of the infamous Licence Raj system.

Following the 2004 general elections, Singh was unexpectedly declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. He was sworn in as the prime minister on 22 May 2004, along with the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general elections, On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Asoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. (www.rainbowdiplomacy.com/wikipedia/photo:risingpowers)

Who is Kevin Rudd?

2010-01-12T19:40:00.004-06:00

Kevin Michael Rudd was sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007.

Mr Rudd was born in the country town of Nambour in Queensland in 1957, the son of a share farmer and a nurse. Mr Rudd was educated at the Eumundi Primary School, Marist College Ashgrove and Nambour State High School, where he was Dux of the school. He joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 15 in 1972.

Prior to entering Parliament in 1998, Mr Rudd worked as a diplomat, as a senior official in the Queensland Government, and as a consultant helping Australian firms to establish and build their business links in China and in Taiwan.

Mr Rudd gained his Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) degree with First Class Honours in 1981 from the Australian National University in Canberra. After graduation he was appointed to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs as a cadet diplomat. He served in the Australian embassy in Stockholm and later in the embassy in Beijing as First Secretary. In 1988, Mr Rudd was promoted to the rank of Counsellor and later to the Senior Executive Service.

In 1988 Mr Rudd returned to Queensland to work as Chief of Staff to the Hon Wayne Goss, the Queensland Opposition Leader. Mr Goss made history the following year, leading the Queensland Labor Party back to government in its first election win since 1956. Mr Rudd served in the Goss Government first as Chief of Staff to the Premier and later driving the Government’s reform program as Director General of the Cabinet Office, the central policy agency of the Queensland Government. During this period Mr Rudd, a Mandarin speaker, was also appointed by Prime Minister Keating and the State Premiers to chair an inter-government committee to develop a National Asian Language and Studies Strategy for Australian schools.

Mr Rudd contested the Federal seat of Griffith for the Australian Labor Party in 1996. The Keating Labor Government was defeated at the 1996 election and Mr Rudd’s bid to win a seat in Parliament was unsuccessful. Between 1996 and 1998 Mr Rudd then worked in business, primarily as the Senior China Consultant for KPMG Australia. His role focused on opening up trade and business opportunities for Australian corporates in China and Taiwan.

In 1998 Mr Rudd again contested the seat of Griffith and was elected to the Parliament of Australia. He was immediately elected Chair of the Parliamentary Labor Party’s Committee on National Security & Trade and served on a variety of parliamentary committees and taskforces. Following the November 2001 election, Mr Rudd was appointed Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, subsequently adding responsibilities for International Security in 2003 and Trade in 2005.

On 4 December 2006 Mr Rudd was elected as the 19th leader of the Australian Labor Party.

Mr Rudd has written extensively on Chinese politics, Chinese foreign policy, Australia-Asia relations and globalisation.

Mr Rudd and his wife Thérèse were married in 1981. They have three children – Jessica (married to Albert Tse), Nicholas and Marcus.

Mr Rudd is an avid supporter of the FIFA World Cup Bid. Be sure to check out the short film - a soccer ball goes flying straight through the PM's office! (www.rainbowdiplomacy.com/www.pm.gov.au)

Gus Dur chronological conditions before death

2010-01-08T23:02:00.003-06:00

Last condition of health KH Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur and maintenance actions performed before the death of the President's 4. Described in a press conference by the President Director of RSCM (Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital) Akmal Taher, who accompanied the team leader Dr. Wahid, Prof. Yusuf Misbach, and Abdurrahman Wahid's younger brother, Umar Wahid, in Jakarta (5/1).

Akmal said, "Any news about the irregularities related to medical care and treatment for Gus Dur. The family was not feeling well. We extend this description so people know what really happened."

"The cause of death as Gus Dur, a clot of blood clots that clog the major blood vessels," Akmal said, "and it was a disturbing work of the heart and may lead to heart failure."

December 25, 2009:
At 08.00 RSCM Director Akmal Taher received notification from the Director Soetomo Hospital Surabaya that the former President of Indonesia is the fourth will be taken to RSCM because it is generally weak and it's time for Gus Dur to wash the blood in the RSCM. According to Akmal, Wahid routine in RSCM dialysis three times a week. The family also told doctors that Gus Dur had dehydration and low blood sugar levels.

At 12:45 Gus Dur and his entourage arrived at the RSCM and immediately taken to the Hemodialysis (dialysis) to undergo a thorough examination to determine if he deserves to wash the blood.

At 13:30 Wahid undergoing preparation for Hemodialysis. During preparation he could receive visitors and communicate well with guests. When that Gus Dur, among others have visitors by the Minister of Health Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Patrialis Akbar.

Wahid 18:00 undergoing dialysis process. Until the process is complete dialysis stable condition that he later brought to the treatment room in room 116 building A RSCM. There, the team physician observation to determine the possibility of action or extract a tooth extraction for two weeks previously known to have an abscess.

December 26-27, 2009
Gus Dur stable condition. Doctors take action for the extraction of teeth that the plan is done by anesthesia (anesthesia) in the local operating room. "Although only be done with local anesthesia, tooth extraction performed in the operating room so that his condition could be monitored intensively from time to time," said Akmal.

December 28, 2009
At 11:00 a team of doctors perform actions tooth extraction with local anesthesia in the operating room. During the operation had been a decrease in heart rate episodes but can be overcome.

At 13:00 Gus Dur was taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for routine monitoring of intensive. He was conscious and his condition is stable.

December 29, 2009
Gus Dur at 10.00 to wash the blood back after condition is declared eligible for dialysis.

At 13:30 dialysis process is complete, Wahid declared a state good enough to be treated in the treatment room so that later he was transferred from ICU to a room 116 in Building A.

December 30, 2009
11:30 Wahid complained great pain on the right buttock to the leg and foot. The doctor did tests and figured there was a blockage in the blood vessels on the right and left legs Gus Dur.

At 12:30 the doctor doing the ultrasound examination and found the local six arteries and right hip left hip. Team doctors also do angiography examination. Since morning Wahid began to shortness of breath, doctors moved him to ICU Heart Center of Integrated Services for the preparation RSCM angiography. The doctor gave an explanation of the medical action plan to the family of the family gave consent.

Medical Team at 14:22 Wahid conditions reported to the Minister of Health. Minister asked the doctors to give the necessary assistance as well as possible and report the progress from time to time.

At 14:40 to 15:08 the doctor doing the examination cardiography and found a large blockage from the major blood vessels or the aorta and the arteries on the left and right pelvis.

At 15:30 the doctor doing the procedure for taking blood clots that clog arteries.

At 17:00 clot retrieval process is complete. During the process of blood clot decrease with decreasing the patient's condition so that doctors and awareness to help with the breathing action tool with respiratory action to improve the patient's condition. It was reported to the Minister of Health, the presidential medical team and medical team RSCM because no notification that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will come to visit.

At 18:15 Wahid critical condition and getting worse, so the doctors decided to perform resuscitation, actions to save lives of patients.

At 18:25 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived at the RSCM and was met by the family of Gus Dur was in front of the action, about 20 yards from where the patient treated. The President entered the hall and prayer room acts in front of the entrance hall accompanied by Minister of Health acts and daughter Gus Dur.

At 18:30 the President away from the action and talk with the doctors and the Minister of Health. Resuscitation was continued in the action.

At 18:45 Wahid declared dead by a team of doctors. The team doctor reported it to the family and the President.

At 18:55 the President left the RSCM
(www.rainbowdiplomacy.com/wk/photo:mediaindonesia.com)

Al Jazeera: Ex-Indonesia president laid to rest

2009-12-31T00:44:00.002-06:00

Indonesia's former president, Abdurrahman Wahid, has been given a state funeral and laid to rest at his birthplace in Jombang, East Java.

Flags were at half mast as a sign of respect for Abdurrahman, who died in hospital on Wednesday aged 69, due to complications arising from diabetes and stroke.

More commonly known as Gus Dur, Abdurrahman became Indonesia's fourth president after Suharto was ousted from power following a student-led uprising against the general's three-decade rule.

Abdurrahman defeated Megawati Sukarnoputri to win the presidency in a parliamentary vote in 1999, even though her Democratic Party of Struggle put in the strongest showing in a general election earlier that year.

She replaced him after he was sacked by the national assembly in 2001 amid unproven allegations of corruption and incompetence.

A religious scholar, Abdurrahman was a critic of Suharto but was himself criticised for his erratic leadership style while he was in office.

Still, he gained a reputation for religious tolerance and reformist policies.

He rose to political prominence as leader of one of the country's biggest mass Islamic movements, the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and helped put the country on the path to democracy following Suharto's fall.

'Enormous service'
Indonesia held its first direct presidential election in 2004, which was won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who remains president after winning re-election this year.

In a nationally-televised address on Thursday, Yudhoyono called on Indonesians to pay Abdurrahman their "highest respects".

"I say this with prayers and hope that he is accepted at the side of God for his enormous service to the public, the nation and our beloved state," he said. (english.aljazeera.net)

StarTribune: Ex-Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, democratic reformer, dies at 69

2009-12-31T00:30:00.003-06:00

By NINIEK KARMINI , Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, who briefly ruled during the nation's first tumultuous years of democracy and sought peace in far-flung secessionist provinces, died Wednesday. He was 69.

Wahid, known fondly by his nickname Gus Dur, was a proponent of moderate Islam and democratic reformer who ultimately was unable to implement his ambitious ideas in the vast island state of 235 million people.

During nearly two years in power, from October 1999 to July 2001, Wahid created a broad coalition of unity amid political and financial chaos in the wake of the downfall of late dictator Suharto in 1998 after 32 years.

Wahid had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta for the past week and died Wednesday evening.

Professor Yusuf Misbach, head of his medical team, said the former president died during surgery to remove a blood clot in his heart. Wahid's condition had deteriorated because of complications with diabetes and kidney failure, he said.

Wahid had struggled with illness for years. He was confined to a wheelchair, lost most of his sight, and suffered serious kidney problems.

"We lost a great statesman who had dedicated all of his life to the nation, struggling for the sake of those suffering from injustice," his younger brother, Solahuddin Wahid, told The Associated Press.

In a nationwide speech on television, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his condolences to the family and announced he will preside over the funeral scheduled for Thursday in Wahid's hometown of Jombang.

He also ordered a week of national mourning and flags lowered to half-staff.

"On behalf of the state government ... I offer the highest condolence," said Yudhoyono, who visited Wahid minutes before he died.

Presidential spokesman Julian Pasha noted Wahid was well regarded among Indonesians.

"We lost one of our greatest figures, who was very much loved by people from all walks of life," said Pasha.

Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil Wahid was born Sept. 7, 1940 in the East Java town of Jombang. He was the son of Wahid Hasyim, an independence hero and a minister of religion in the government of Sukarno, Indonesia's founding father.

Abdurrahman Wahid once led the Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic group. As chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, Wahid continued to push for interfaith dialogue and accepted an invitation to visit Israel in October 1994. In 1997, he traveled to Tel Aviv where he jointly signed a peace charter promoted by the Simon Perez Institute.

"He was a very open person ... All minorities, underdogs or those suffering always felt secure with him. That was very extraordinary," said Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic priest. "He was a humanist ... For people like me, he emitted a friendly Islam that made us feel safe."

Wahid was an opponent of Suharto in the dictator's final years in power. Wahid attempted to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate political killings, disappearances and massacres during Suharto's 32-year rule.

Wahid was elected Indonesia's third president on Oct. 20, 1999. While in office, he worked for peaceful solutions to secessionist movements in restive provinces such as Aceh and Papua.

He visited East Timor after it became a new nation and apologized for human rights abuses committed by Indonesian forces during its brutal 24-year occupation. Wahid also removed the powerful Gen. Wiranto from his Cabinet over his alleged role in the bloodshed in East Timor. (Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report.)

Reuters: Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid dies

2009-12-31T00:26:00.001-06:00

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Former Indonesian leader Abdurrahman Wahid, a Muslim cleric who served as the country's fourth president after years in opposition to strongman President Suharto, died in hospital on Wednesday at the age of 69.

Wahid, usually known as Gus Dur, was president between 1999 and 2001 after taking office on a wave of optimism in the turmoil following Suharto's fall from power.

"He passed away this afternoon," said his aide Sulaiman, who added that his family was at his bedside at the time and current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was also there.

The head of the Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital in central Jakarta said that his condition had been improving until Tuesday, but he was later transferred to intensive care after problems with his respiratory system and blood vessels.

Yudhoyono later said that Wahid would be given a state funeral in Jombang, East Java, on Thursday.

"I ask all Indonesian people to fly flags at half mast for a week as an expression of our deepest condolence," Yudhoyono said in a televised address.

The jocular cleric became the first Indonesian to win a contested presidential vote in October 1999, edging out Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of founding President Sukarno.

But when he assumed the highest office in the world's fourth most populous country he struggled to deal with the broken economy and an unstable and fragmented political system in need of a strong leader and good manager.

His style was often perceived as bumbling and chaotic, and any hope that his penchant for jokes, formidable intellect and political skills would help lead Indonesia through the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy quickly fell flat.

Wahid's presidency ultimately collapsed amid moves to declare a state of emergency when faced with impeachment over allegations of corruption and incompetence, and he was sacked by parliament and replaced by Megawati.

Wahid suffered several strokes, was nearly blind and had diabetes and regular kidney dialysis, but despite his frail health he remained an influential figure in politics.

He was a staunch defender of moderate Islam and secular politics and was the former leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim group with some 40 million members.

He also regularly spoke up for the rights of minorities in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The former president's body was carried through a throng of people in the lobby of the hospital in a coffin wrapped in green, the traditional color of Islam, to a waiting car to be taken to the family home in Jakarta. (Additional reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Alex Richardson)

BusinessWeek.com: Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian President, Dies at 69

2009-12-31T00:22:00.002-06:00

By Agus Suhana

Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, the country’s first democratically elected leader, died yesterday in a Jakarta hospital following a long illness. He was 69.

“We don’t have anyone else of his caliber,” Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim organization founded by Wahid’s grandfather, said in comments broadcast on TVOne news.

Wahid was elected president Oct. 20, 1999, succeeding B.J. Habibie, who took power a year earlier following four decades under the military dictatorship of Suharto and Sukarno. Wahid won respect as a moderate who helped bridge sectarian divides in the world’s fourth-most populous nation as it emerged from the worst recession in a generation.

He showed it “was possible for the Islamic community to cooperate with non-Muslims at a time when other Islamic activists were moving more in the direction of fundamentalism,” R. William Liddle, political science professor at Ohio State University and a former Fulbright scholar in Indonesia, said by phone. “He was much less successful as a politician.”

Wahid didn’t spell out his economic policies in detail, limiting himself to general statements about the future of Indonesia. Markets reacted negatively to his election, with the rupiah falling 6.3 percent the next day. Investors favored Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of the first president, Sukarno.

Worsening relations with lawmakers climaxed when security forces refused to obey his declaration of a state of emergency. On July 23, 2001, Wahid was impeached and forced from office following allegations of involvement in two financial scandals.

‘Unstable,’ Impeached
“Wahid’s presidency was unstable and you could characterize it as drift,” Razeen Sally, a senior lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics, said by phone. “The Indonesian economy wasn’t doing well while he was in office and real reforms were not put in place during his presidency.”

Megawati succeeded him
Born in Jombang, East Java, Aug. 4, 1940, Wahid was the oldest of six brothers. His father, Wahid Hasyim, was minister of religious affairs for Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno.

As a young man, Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, studied at a number of Islamic boarding schools, before moving on to Cairo’s Al-Azhar Islamic University in 1964. In 1966, he left Egypt to study literature at the University of Baghdad, Iraq. He married his wife, Nuriyah, in 1968, and had four children.

In 1970, he returned to Indonesia and from 1972 to 1974, was dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Hasjim Asyari University in Jombang, Java.

Muslim Party
After moving to Jakarta in 1978, Wahid became involved with the Nahdlatul Ulama or NU, then Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, which claimed more than 30 million members.

As one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Suharto, he earned the respect of many reformist figures, though he was always careful to couch his criticism in enigmatic terms. In 1994, he won another five-year term as chairman of NU, over the objections of Suharto, who tried to oust him again in 1996.

“Gus Dur is a symbol of a particular era,” said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and a former adviser to Habibie. “This was the era of transition from an authoritarian rule to a democracy.”

The moderate form of Islam that Wahid practiced left another legacy, said Ernest Bower, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Moderate Islam
“He embodied that moderate Islam that really characterizes the type of Islam that is practiced in Indonesia today,” Bower said. “He respected civil laws and wanted to keep religion and jurisprudence and governance separate.”

By the time Wahid took office, he had already suffered two strokes and was almost blind. Wahid had been in hospital since Dec. 26, Jusuf Misbach, a member of the presidential medical team, said, according to the detik.com news Web site. Yesterday morning his condition worsened due to complications brought on by stroke, diabetes and heart disease, the site said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last night that Wahid will be buried today in a state ceremony. Yudhoyono called on Indonesians to fly the national flag at half mast for a week. (December 30, 2009, 08:44 PM EST)

BBCnews: Obituary: Abdurrahman Wahid

2009-12-31T00:14:00.003-06:00

Abdurrahman Wahid, who has died at the age of 69, was one of the most formidable and colourful figures in Indonesian political and religious life.

Wahid, or Gus Dur as he was also known, was born in Jombang, East Java in 1940, the first of five children in a prominent and politically active Muslim family.

His paternal grandfather was the founder of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama, or NU, while his father Wahid Hasyim would go on to be Indonesia's first minister of religious affairs.

The family moved to Jakarta in 1944 where Wahid attended school and was encouraged by his father to read non-Muslim books and newspapers to broaden his horizons.

Studies abroad
He returned to Jombang to attend Muslim school in 1959, where he began work as a teacher and later as a headmaster, and in 1963 received a scholarship to study at al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

He continued his studies in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and later in the Netherlands, and eventually returned to Indonesia in 1971, where he worked as a journalist and social commentator, and later as an academic.

In the late 1970s Wahid began to play an active role in the running of the NU - which draws its support of at least 30 million members from Muslims in the rural areas of Java - seeing himself as a reformer of the organisation.

At this time he also had his first political experience, campaigning for the United Development Party, PPP, a Muslim party which was formed as a result of a merger of four Muslim parties including NU.

He became chairman of NU in 1984, but consistently maintained that government should be secular and that faith is a personal matter.

'Kingmaker'
However his position as a moral leader was transformed following the dramatic fall of President Suharto in 1998.

Former Indonesian president Wahid is helped to the podium before addressing the nation in May 2001
Former president Wahid suffered poor health in recent years

In the ensuing unrest, some politicians made increasingly vocal calls for Islam to have an institutionalised role in the state.

Although health problems, especially poor eyesight, limited his effectiveness, Wahid's position as chairman of NU placed him in the role of "kingmaker" following Suharto's downfall.

Wahid and his supporters formed the National Awakening Party, PKB, and after months of prevarication over whether he would actually stand, Wahid was officially declared as presidential candidate in February 1999.

His election as president, in October 1999, came as a shock to many after Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P party had emerged as the winner of Indonesia's parliamentary elections in June that year.

He was seen as a reformer and democrat as well as a man who could unite the country after the chaos surrounding the downfall of Suharto and his authoritarian regime.

Host of problems
But the transition to democracy was never going to be easy and President Wahid's honeymoon was short-lived.

He got off to a good start by curbing the influence of the military over his government.

Against great odds he succeeded in sacking the former armed forces chief and man accused of instigating the destruction of East Timor, General Wiranto.

He also moved early on issues such as the liberalisation of Chinese cultural and religious expression and the release of political prisoners.

He explored trade relations with Israel and agreed a memorandum of understanding, albeit briefly, with the separatist movement in the Sumatran province of Aceh.

But he soon ran into a host of problems, some of them self-made.

Despite a flare-up of sectarian and separatist violence across the country, Mr Wahid embarked on a series of long trips abroad, seeming to ignore problems back home.

His style of leadership soon appeared erratic and unfocused and in particular without any emphasis on the critical issue of economic recovery.

Political isolation
But perhaps his most controversial move was the sacking of two senior ministers from the cabinet without any proper explanation.

This also exposed the weakness of his coalition government as the main parties on whose support he depended began to turn against him.

Wahid's presidency ultimately collapsed following unproven allegations of corruption. One of the allegations involved the theft of $4.1m from the national food agency by people claiming to be acting on his behalf.

He was impeached by the Indonesian parliament in July 2001, and replaced by his deputy, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Less than two years after his election, he was a politically isolated man, whose inability to govern rendered him an almost pathetic figure who refused to leave the palace despite being replaced by parliament.

In recent years he had suffered several strokes, kidney problems and was nearly blind.

He remained an influential figure in Indonesian politics, and a staunch defender of secular politics and moderate Islam. (BBCNews Page last updated at 19:07 GMT, Wednesday, 30 December 2009)

MJTimes: President Abdurrahman Wahid has died at age 69

2009-12-31T00:07:00.004-06:00

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A hospital nurse says former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has died. He was 69.

Chief nurse Buwahyuat at the Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta told The Associated Press on Wednesday Wahid had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. Buwahyuat like many Indonesians uses one name.

"Gusdur has passed away," she said, referring to Wahid's popular nickname.

The exact cause of death was not immediately released. The former president had suffered from several medical problems in recent years including kidney trouble.

Wahid ruled the country briefly in tumultuous years after the end of the 32-year Suharto dictatorship in 1998. He is known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam. (The Associated Press, JAKARTA, Indonesia - Published on December 30th, 2009)

Financial Times.com: Abdurrahman Wahid died on Wednesday aged 69, was often described as “nearly blind” and “frail”, the legacies of two strokes.

2009-12-30T23:01:00.002-06:00

Obituary: Abdurrahman Wahid, the former Indonesian president
By Shawn Donnan

In his later life Abdurrahman Wahid, the former Indonesian president and religious leader who died on Wednesday aged 69, was often described as “nearly blind” and “frail”, the legacies of two strokes.

His critics derided the outspoken, jazz-loving cleric as so eccentric as to be erratic, or berated his tumultuous 1999-2001 presidency as leaving a legacy of missed opportunities to right the historic economic and human rights wrongs of the Suharto regime.

Wahid, who was renowned for his often off-colour jokes, was self-deprecating. He joked that Indonesia’s first president (Sukarno) was crazy for women, its second (Suharto) was crazy for money, its third (BJ Habibie) was plain crazy, and that he, the fourth, just drove people crazy.

But history may be kinder. To his defenders, Wahid, known to most Indonesians by the genial nickname “Gus Dur”, is responsible for helping to solidify the place of the world’s largest Muslim nation as one of its largest democracies following the 1998 overthrow of Suharto.

Greg Barton, the Australian author of Wahid’s 2002 authorised biography, argues that though his presidency was largely ineffectual, by promoting free speech, human rights and apologies for past wrongs Wahid transformed the political agenda.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Social fault lines remain as Aceh rebuilds - Dec-28
Jakarta opts not to confront China on trade - Dec-15

“As president he raised [Indonesians’] expectations of what democracy should be,” Mr Barton said on Wednesday. “Even though he left office under a cloud, people’s expectations of what a democratic president – of what a democracy – should deliver were forever altered.”

Wahid was born September 7, 1940, into the Indonesian equivalent of both Islamic and nationalist royalty. His paternal grandfather was one of the founders in 1926 of Nahdlatul Ulama, often dubbed the world’s largest Islamic organisation.

Wahid’s father was a prominent cleric and nationalist who was religious affairs minister after independence in 1948.

On to that heritage Wahid piled an education abroad, with stints at universities in Egypt, Iraq and Canada.

He returned home in the early 1970s and, as expected due to his lineage, rose to head Nahdlatul Ulama in 1984. He was a vocal critic of Suharto, eventually becoming a key figure in the Reformasi movement that led to the autocrat’s 1998 fall, and in the eruption of multi-party politics.

He also challenged the orthodox view of a Muslim leader, arguing that traditional religious practice ought to mix with modernity. He drew raised eyebrows in some circles by travelling to Israel and defending British author Salman Rushdie.

“Those who say that I am not Islamic enough should reread their Koran. Islam is about inclusion, tolerance, community,’’ he once declared.

He was elected by parliament to be Indonesia’s fourth president in October 1999. He struggled to do anything substantial, but travelled widely overseas to promote the idea of a democratic Indonesia. He launched the process of dismantling the Suharto regime’s administrative discrimination against the ethnic Chinese minority.

While his election was initially seen as a politically palatable compromise, his relationship with parliament soured, his domestic agenda stalled, and in July 2001 he was impeached and replaced by Megawati Sukarnoputri, his vice-president.

In his later years he was increasingly treated as a curiosity in Indonesian politics. But somehow, largely through his humour and geniality, he retained much of his moral authority. (FT.com - Published: December 30 2009 15:32 | Last updated: December 30 2009 15:32)

Profile: Marwan Barghouti

2009-12-16T23:14:00.000-06:00

Marwan Barghouti was not well known among Palestinians until he came to prominence as a leader of the second Intifada.

But it was his arrest by Israel in 2002 and conviction on five counts of murder two years later that turned his into a household name.

Barghouti enjoys widespread respect and support among all Palestinian factions and, despite currently being in an Israeli prison, is now considered a favourite to succeed to Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority.

Such an outcome would depend on him being freed in a major prisoner exchange, possibly in return for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since June 2006.

'Young guard'
Born in 1958 in the village of Kobar, near the city of Ramallah, Barghouti was nearly nine years old when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war.

At the age of 15, he became active in the Fatah movement of the late Yasser Arafat.

In 1978, he was arrested and imprisoned by Israel for more than four years on charges of being a member of an armed Palestinian group.

Barghouti completed his secondary education and learned Hebrew while in jail, and after his release in 1983, began a degree at Birzeit University.

It took another 11 years to finish his studies, however, as he remained politically active and became a leading member of Fatah's "young guard", who came to prominence while the movement's established figures, including Arafat and Mr Abbas, were exiled in Lebanon and Tunisia.

Then, in 1987, Palestinians broke out in revolt against Israeli occupation, in what became known as the first Intifada, or uprising. Barghouti emerged as a leader in the West Bank, and was later deported to Jordan.

Disillusioned
He returned in 1994 following the Oslo peace accords. He strongly supported the peace process, but was sceptical about Israel's commitment to successive land-for-peace deals.

In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Authority's new parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council, with overwhelming support.

He then launched a campaign against human rights abuses by Arafat's own security services and corruption among his officials, further raising his profile.

At the same time, Barghouti established close contacts with several Israeli politicians and members of the country's peace movement.

But by the summer of 2000, especially after the collapse of the Camp David summit, he had become disillusioned. He predicted that the "next Intifada" would mix popular protests with "new forms of military struggle".

The second Intifada broke out that September after a visit by Ariel Sharon, then the leader of Israel's opposition, to the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, which houses the al-Aqsa mosque, sparked Palestinian anger.

Now leader of leader of Fatah in the West Bank and chief of its armed wing, the Tanzim, Barghouti led marches to Israeli checkpoints, where riots broke out against Israeli soldiers.

He also spurred on Palestinians in speeches, condoning the use of force to expel Israel from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"While I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future neighbour, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom," he wrote in the Washington Post newspaper in 2002.

"I still seek peaceful coexistence between the equal and independent countries of Israel and Palestine based on full withdrawal from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967," he added.

Arrest
The second intifada saw a number of armed groups associated with Fatah and the Tanzim emerge, most notably the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which carried out numerous attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, and suicide bombings targeting civilians inside Israel.

The Israeli authorities accused Barghouti of having founded the Brigades, which he denied, though he hailed some of the group's operations.

Having survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2001, when his bodyguard's car was hit by a missile, the Brigade possibly sealed Mr Barghouti's fate when it issued a statement in 2002 claiming him as its leader.

Barghouti was arrested by Israeli troops in Ramallah that April and first appeared in an Israeli court the following August - charged with the killing of 26 people and belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Throughout his trial, he refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli court. His lawyers insisted he was only a political leader, and sought to turn the process into a trial of Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory.

In 2004, Barghouti was convicted on five counts of murder for the deaths of four Israelis and a Greek monk, as well as attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, and membership of a terrorist organisation.

The court found there was insufficient evidence connecting him to the 21 other deaths on the original indictment.

Continued role
But even from his prison cell, Barghouti has remained an important Palestinian political figure.

He helped negotiate, using his mobile phone, a unilateral truce declared by the main Palestinian militant groups in June 2003.

That ceasefire collapsed two months later, following a Palestinian suicide bombing and an Israeli air strike that killed a Hamas political leader.

Barghouti also drafted the 2006 Prisoners' Document, in which jailed leaders of all major factions called for a Palestinian state to be established within pre-1967 borders and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.

He also helped forge the Mecca Agreement, which attempted to bring about a national unity government for the Palestinians in 2007.

And this August, Barghouti was elected to Fatah's Central Committee, along with other members of the "young guard" - now in their 40s and 50s - including Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, a former Arafat aide.

The prospect of Barghouti's release has divided Israel, with some cabinet ministers arguing that as a reformist who could unite the rival Palestinian factions, he offers the best prospect for peace should Mr Abbas step down, and others saying someone convicted of five murders should never walk free. (news.bbc.co.uk)

Marwan Barghouti: Perjuangan "NELSON MANDELA" dari PALESTINA

2009-12-12T18:00:00.000-06:00

Oleh: Musthafa Abd Rahman

Sejumlah media massa Barat menyebut Sekretaris Jenderal Faksi Fatah Marwan Barghouti (50), yang kini disekap di penjara Israel, sebagai Nelson Mandela dari Palestina.

Namun, media massa Israel menolak keras mengibaratkan Barghouti seperti Nelson Mandela. ”Tidak ada Mandela Palestina dan tidak ada Anwar Sadat Palestina”, tulis harian Haaretz.

Menyebut Marwan Barghouti yang lahir pada 6 Juni 1959 sebagai Mandela dari Palestina sesungguhnya tidak berlebihan. Ia memiliki popularitas luar biasa di kalangan rakyat Palestina dan Arab.

Ia yang mendekam di penjara Israel sejak tahun 2002, popularitasnya tidak tertandingi oleh tokoh Palestina mana pun (kecuali almarhum Yasser Arafat).

Ia memiliki karakteristik kepemimpinan sempurna seperti Yasser Arafat. Ia dikenal sebagai orang lapangan yang berinteraksi langsung dengan rakyat dan memimpin sendiri aksi perlawanan terhadap Israel di jalan-jalan kota Ramallah.

Kini namanya tiba-tiba disebut-sebut kembali sehubungan dengan dua peristiwa penting di pentas politik Palestina saat ini. Pertama, kemungkinan terjadinya suksesi kepemimpinan nasional Palestina menyusul pernyataan Presiden Mahmoud Abbas yang tidak ingin mencalonkan diri lagi sebagai presiden pada pemilu mendatang.

Opini

Opini dan media massa Arab menyebut beberapa nama kandidat pengganti Abbas. Nama yang menonjol di antaranya adalah Marwan Barghouti.

Kedua, berita semakin dekatnya tercapai kesepakatan transaksi tukar-menukar tahanan Palestina dan tentara Israel Gilad Shalit yang disekap Hamas sejak tahun 2006. Di antara tahanan Palestina yang akan dibebaskan dalam transaksi itu adalah Marwan Barghouti.

Harian Inggris, The Times, mengutip pejabat Hamas, akhir bulan November lalu, mengungkapkan, Marwan Barghouti adalah tahanan pertama yang dituntut oleh Hamas agar dibebaskan dalam konteks tukar-menukar tahanan itu.

Namun, berita rencana pembebasan Marwan Barghouti tiba-tiba menjadi persoalan menyusul Israel ingin mengasingkan Barghouti ke luar negeri.

Fadwa Barghouti (istri Marwan Barghouti) menolak isu bahwa suaminya akan diasingkan ke luar negeri. Ia menyatakan mendukung pihak Palestina yang kini sedang terlibat dalam perundingan untuk mencapai kesepakatan transaksi tukar-menukar tahanan itu.

”Biarkan mereka berunding dan saya mendukung apa pun hasil dari perundingan itu. Terpenting, para tahanan itu bisa menghirup udara bebas dan mengakhiri penderitaan di penjara,” kata Fadwa.

Salah seorang pemimpin Hamas, Ismail Ridhwan, menegaskan, Hamas menolak ide pengasingan sejumlah tahanan Palestina yang akan dibebaskan itu.

Pengamat politik Palestina, Hani Al Misri, mengatakan, ide pengasingan sejumlah tahanan Palestina harus ditolak oleh Hamas. Menurut dia, titik penting dalam transaksi nanti adalah jika berhasil membebaskan tahanan dari pimpinan Palestina, seperti Marwan Barghouti.

”Transaksi itu bisa punya makna politik dan keamanan jika berhasil membebaskan tahanan dari pimpinan Palestina itu. Namun, jika mereka diasingkan, itu merupakan titik lemah transaksi,” lanjut Al Misri.

Para analis mengatakan, apabila Barghouti dibebaskan, hal itu akan merupakan era baru dalam pentas politik Palestina karena ia dianggap tokoh yang mampu menjembatani Hamas dan Fatah.

Barghouti dikenal sebagai tokoh Fatah, tetapi dalam waktu yang sama punya hubungan kuat dengan Hamas. Ia termasuk tokoh yang mendukung perundingan dengan Israel, tetapi dalam watu yang sama sangat percaya dengan aksi perlawanan.

Para analis juga mengatakan, jika Barghouti dibebaskan, hal itu akan mendorong Presiden Mahmoud Abbas terus bertekad tidak mencalonkan diri pada pemilu Palestina mendatang.

Selama ini diyakini, Barghouti akan mudah mengalahkan Abbas dalam pemilu yang digelar secara bebas dan jujur.

Barghouti adalah tokoh yang popularitasnya tidak pernah surut. Ia—meskipun masih disekap di penjara—berhasil terpilih sebagai anggota Komite Sentral PLO pada Kongres Fatah bulan Agustus lalu di Bethlehem.

Barghouti dikenal sebagai arsitek intifadah kedua (2000-2005). ”Intifadah bukan keputusan seorang pejabat atau faksi, tetapi lahir dari tekad bersama rakyat Palestina,” kata Barghouti.

Ia pesimistis terjadi kemajuan dalam proses perdamaian di tengah kondisi dalam negeri Israel seperti sekarang.

Ia meminta PLO mengusung program nasional untuk menggerakkan perlawanan rakyat secara damai melawan pembangunan permukiman Yahudi di Tepi Barat dan Jerusalem Timur.

Barghouti sejak awal Oktober lalu menyerukan agar segera dicapai rekonsiliasi Palestina dan menerima kertas kerja yang ditawarkan Mesir untuk mencapai rekonsiliasi itu. (Kompas daily,Jumat, 11 Desember 2009 / Foto: www.associazionezaatar.org)