Obituary: Ali Alatas, the great Asian statesman

Within the region, this towering figure in Asian diplomacy, as Asean secretary general Dr Surin Pitsuwan calls him, was known for his crucial role in bringing together the conflicting parties in the Cambodian conflict, which paved the way for peace negotiations in Paris in 1991. At the Jakarta Informal Meeting in Bogor in July 1988, Ali helped to convince both the Vietnam-backed Heng-Samrin government and the coalition of resistance groups including royalists and the Khmer Rouge to meet in the historic city. The meeting broke the ice among the rival factions and created sufficient mutual trust for peace talks.

I remember what he told me during a seminar on mediation and conflict management in April this year in Beijing: "I would not have been able to do my job if they did not want peace. They had to want it first, then we could help and build confidence," he said referring to the warring Cambodian factions.

Ali was humble and played down his own role in bringing peace and rehabilitation to the war-torn country. As a neighbouring state to the conflict, Thailand also trusted him and backed the peace process. In acknowledgement of his invaluable contribution to peace in Cambodia, the Thai government under Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai conferred upon him the country's highest royal decoration.

For the international community, Ali was the face and voice of Indonesia throughout the 1980s and 90s. He was often at the forefront in explaining Indonesia's actions, or lack of action, under the autocratic regime of former president Suharto. When Indonesian troops committed a massacre at a cemetery in Santa Cruz in East Timor in 1991, when it was an Indonesian province, he knew that Indonesia would face global outrage and a credibility problem. He said the incident was a turning point from which Indonesia would never recover. He later wrote a book about the coumtry's diplomatic struggle in East Timor, which he described as pebbles in the shoes of Indonesia.

From 2003 he served as a foreign policy special adviser and special envoy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Over the past several months, he had focused attention on Burma, hoping to bring national reconciliation to that troubled country. He was one of the key architects in helping the Indonesian government craft a comprehensive Burmese policy that would utilise the good practices and lessons from the Cambodian conflict. Key players such as China, India and Vietnam expressed support for the Indonesian plan but President Yudhoyono has not yet made an official announcement of it. He repeatedly called on the Burmese regime to release the opposition leader, Aung Saan Suu Kyi.

The veteran diplomat also represented the moral voice of Asean. As a member of the Eminent Persons Group on the Asean Charter in 2007, he strongly advocated respect for human rights and democracy in the drafting of the Charter. He believed that Asean should be more open and democratic.

Bapak Ali died of a heart attack in hospital in Singapore yesterday morning at the age of 76. His is a huge loss for Indonesia and Asean. Bapak made Asean known in the international community, especially after the resolution of the Cambodian civil war. He is survived by his wife and three children.