Namibia’s freedom broker wins Nobel prize

NAMIBIANS have hailed Martti Ahtisaari, who played a significant role in Namibia’s independence negotiations, and who won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

The news of the former Finnish President and former United Nations Special Representative to Namibia scooping the award was widely welcomed. The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement on Friday.The 71-year-old Ahtisaari is credited with brokering peace deals in Africa, in particular Namibia, Europe and Asia.The Norwegian Nobel Committee chose Ahtisaari to receive the US$1,4 million prize from a field of 197 candidates “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”Ahtisaari served as United Nations Commissioner for Namibia between 1977-1981.He was appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Namibia in July 1978 and led the UN operation (Untag) in Namibia (1989-1990) greatly contributing to Namibia’s independence process.He told a Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday that he was “very pleased and grateful” to receive the award.For him the biggest achievement was in Namibia.”It was absolutely the most important because it took such a long time,” he said.Over the years Ahtisaari brought peace to conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe.The former Finnish president’s virtue and toil were rewarded with the world’s most celebrated peace prize on Friday.In early October he was also awarded the Unesco Peace Prize.He becomes the first Finnish Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Ahtisaari is also the first peace broker to win since former US President Jimmy Carter in 2002 and the first European in a decade.Ahtisaari was sent to Namibia in April 1989 as the UN Special Representative to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) following the death of UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21 1988.He was also the architect of a European Union-backed plan for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia which guaranteed Serb minority rights and was implemented bloodlessly after the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.”In 1989-90 he played a significant part in the establishment of Namibia’s independence,” the Nobel committee said.”In 2005 he and his organisation Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) were central to the solution of the complicated Aceh question in Indonesia.””In 1999 and again in 2005-07, he sought under especially difficult circumstances to find a solution to the conflict in Kosovo,” the committee said.Reacting to Ahtisaari’s win, Speaker of the National Assembly Theo-Ben Gurirab, who was Swapo’s envoy to the UN during Ahtisaari’s mediation, welcomed the news.In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), Gurirab, who described himself as a close personal friend of Ahtisaari, said: “He brought a typical Finnish character – very calm, very friendly, very respectful, a very balanced cultural attitudes to things.”As a negotiator in Namibia, Gurirab said, Ahtisaari had to try to juggle the interests of a bewildering array of stakeholders, for whom South-West Africa became a frontline in the Cold War, including the United States, former colonial power Germany, Cuba and the Soviet Union.”It took decades, it took death, it took betrayal, it took suffering but in the end he was part of the team that brought about the independence of Namibia,” said Gurirab.For Gurirab, Ahtisaari’s Nobel Prize was a “deserved honour” for a “job well done.””He deserves it,” said Swapo veteran Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, approached about the news on Friday.He described Ahtisaari as the ‘midwife’ of Namibian independence, and said that his role in this historic event, whenever there were trouble spots in the world, “the UN knocked on his door”.Another veteran, Moses Katjiuongua, said it was “excellent for Martti, and excellent for Namibia”.While he had not agreed with Ahtisaari all the time, he “did a good job”.Positive comments also came from prominent academics, Henning Melber and Andre du Pisani.While Ahtisaari’s role in the Namibian independence process was also “controversial”, especially with reference to the April 1 incursion by Swapo fighters, Ahtisaari had managed, despite ‘painful decisions’ that had to be taken, to keep the independence process on track where others might have failed, Melber said.He also commended Ahtisaari for his role in international conflict resolution, such as Kosovo and Aceh.Du Pisani described him as a person “who resolutely pursued peace against formidable odds and won the respect of the Namibian and international communities”.In the transition period in Namibia he was a “repository of hope” and after the April 1 setback, he had “reminded people to get back to the process and he acted with integrity and that was extraordinary”, du Pisani added.After the Independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari was appointed an honorary Namibian citizen.”Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator,” said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.”Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts.”- Additional reporting by ReutersThe Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement on Friday.The 71-year-old Ahtisaari is credited with brokering peace deals in Africa, in particular Namibia, Europe and Asia.The Norwegian Nobel Committee chose Ahtisaari to receive the US$1,4 million prize from a field of 197 candidates “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”Ahtisaari served as United Nations Commissioner for Namibia between 1977-1981.He was appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Namibia in July 1978 and led the UN operation (Untag) in Namibia (1989-1990) greatly contributing to Namibia’s independence process.He told a Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday that he was “very pleased and grateful” to receive the award.For him the biggest achievement was in Namibia. “It was absolutely the most important because it took such a long time,” he said.Over the years Ahtisaari brought peace to conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe.The former Finnish president’s virtue and toil were rewarded with the world’s most celebrated peace prize on Friday.In early October he was also awarded the Unesco Peace Prize.He becomes the first Finnish Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Ahtisaari is also the first peace broker to win since former US President Jimmy Carter in 2002 and the first European in a decade.Ahtisaari was sent to Namibia in April 1989 as the UN Special Representative to head the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) following the death of UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21 1988.He was also the architect of a European Union-backed plan for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia which guaranteed Serb minority rights and was implemented bloodlessly after the wars that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.”In 1989-90 he played a significant part in the establishment of Namibia’s independence,” the Nobel committee said.”In 2005 he and his organisation Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) were central to the solution of the complicated Aceh question in Indonesia.””In 1999 and again in 2005-07, he sought under especially difficult circumstances to find a solution to the conflict in Kosovo,” the committee said.Reacting to Ahtisaari’s win, Speaker of the National Assembly Theo-Ben Gurirab, who was Swapo’s envoy to the UN during Ahtisaari’s mediation, welcomed the news.In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), Gurirab, who described himself as a close personal friend of Ahtisaari, said: “He brought a typical Finnish character – very calm, very friendly, very respectful, a very balanced cultural attitudes to things.”As a negotiator in Namibia, Gurirab said, Ahtisaari had to try to juggle the interests of a bewildering array of stakeholders, for whom South-West Africa became a frontline in the Cold War, including the United States, former colonial powe
r Germany, Cuba and the Soviet Union.”It took decades, it took death, it took betrayal, it took suffering but in the end he was part of the team that brought about the independence of Namibia,” said Gurirab.For Gurirab, Ahtisaari’s Nobel Prize was a “deserved honour” for a “job well done.””He deserves it,” said Swapo veteran Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, approached about the news on Friday.He described Ahtisaari as the ‘midwife’ of Namibian independence, and said that his role in this historic event, whenever there were trouble spots in the world, “the UN knocked on his door”.Another veteran, Moses Katjiuongua, said it was “excellent for Martti, and excellent for Namibia”.While he had not agreed with Ahtisaari all the time, he “did a good job”.Positive comments also came from prominent academics, Henning Melber and Andre du Pisani.While Ahtisaari’s role in the Namibian independence process was also “controversial”, especially with reference to the April 1 incursion by Swapo fighters, Ahtisaari had managed, despite ‘painful decisions’ that had to be taken, to keep the independence process on track where others might have failed, Melber said.He also commended Ahtisaari for his role in international conflict resolution, such as Kosovo and Aceh.Du Pisani described him as a person “who resolutely pursued peace against formidable odds and won the respect of the Namibian and international communities”.In the transition period in Namibia he was a “repository of hope” and after the April 1 setback, he had “reminded people to get back to the process and he acted with integrity and that was extraordinary”, du Pisani added.After the Independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari was appointed an honorary Namibian citizen.”Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator,” said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.”Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts.”- Additional reporting by Reuters