Tributes poured in yesterday for US senator Ted Kennedy following his death from brain cancer, with world leaders hailing “a great American” who was a tireless campaigner for peace and social welfare.
“Senator Edward Kennedy will be mourned not just in America but in every continent,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement.
“He is admired around the world as the senator of senators. He led the world in championing children's education and healthcare, and believed that every single child should have the chance to realize their potential to the full,” Brown said.
During a 47-year career in Congress, Kennedy carved out a reputation as the leading proponent of healthcare reform — a cause that is being taken up by US President Barack Obama.
Kennedy, who died aged 77 at his home in Massachusetts late on Tuesday, also played a significant role in establishing peace in Northern Ireland, helping to smooth the negotiations which led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
He was awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain for his efforts.
Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, who oversaw the Good Friday negotiations, praised Kennedy's “passionate commitment” to the peace process.
“Senator Kennedy was a figure who inspired admiration, respect and devotion, not just in America but around the world,” he said.
“He was a true public servant committed to the values of fairness, justice and opportunity,” Blair said.
“I saw his focus and determination first-hand in Northern Ireland where his passionate commitment was matched with a practical understanding of what needed to be done to bring about peace and to sustain it,” he said.
The Kennedy family has close ties with Ireland. Kennedy's great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, emigrated from County Wexford in the 1840s, while his sister Jean Kennedy Smith was US ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998.
“Ted hailed from a most famous Irish-American family, and through his own endeavors and achievement, he has added further luster to the reputation of a great family,” Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said.
“America has lost a great and respected statesman and Ireland has lost a long-standing and true friend,” he said.
In a message of condolence to Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Kennedy as “an extraordinary personality in American politics,” who had demonstrated a “firm and resolute commitment to peace and justice.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was “deeply saddened” by Kennedy's passing, recalling how they had spoken of prospects for peace in his war-torn nation on a meeting in the senator's Boston stronghold in 2005.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his way to talks in London with the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, lauded Kennedy as a “great friend” of the Jewish state.
“Kennedy has been a friend for 30 years, a great American patriot, a great champion of a better world, a great friend of Israel,” he said through his spokesman Mark Regev. “He'll be sorely missed.”
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hailed Kennedy as a “great American, a great Democrat and also a great friend of Australia.”
“He has made an extraordinary contribution to American politics, an extraordinary contribution to America's role in the world,” said Rudd in a statement.
“When you look at Ted Kennedy's legislative career, more than 40 years, when you look at the content of that legislative career, spanning the whole breath of public policy — health policy, social policy, foreign policy — this has been a unique political career,” Rudd said.
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