Bosnian groups have nominated former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping the country after its bloody civil war, the Star newspaper reported yesterday.
It said that he was nominated by four civil groups in Bosnia spearheaded by former president Ejup Ganic.
Mahathir was described in their nomination paper as the developing world's "most courageous advocate," the newspaper said.
Under Mahathir, Malaysia provided economic, political and humanitarian aid for Bosnia while it reeled from the trauma of conflict and ethnic cleansing in the 1992 to 1995 civil war.
Mahathir will this week host a conference on exposing war crimes, which he hopes will encourage governments to criminalize war.
When asked to comment on his nomination at a press conference yesterday, Mahathir simply laughed and tried to brush the question aside.
"I don't know about these things. I don't know if I will be asked to accept it or not ... can we have some other more interesting questions?" the former prime minister told reporters.
The deadline for nominations to the Nobel Institute in Oslo closed on Thursday. The winner will be announced in October and the prize will be awarded on Dec. 10. Last year, Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were selected from a list of 191 nominees.
Mahathir, 81, who stepped down in 2003, has seized on the issue of conflict in the Middle East during his retirement.
He launched an unofficial war crimes tribunal last week to focus on victims of abuse in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
Mahathir said the international war crimes conference, which will be held in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, from today until Sunday, would highlight testimonies from people tortured and abused in war.
"What we are trying to correct is the thinking of people, the mindset of people ... and spread ideas and perceptions to support what we are subscribing to, which is the criminalization of war," Mahathir said.
The war crimes tribunal would begin its preliminary proceedings with testimonies from witnesses, victims and a panel of expert judges, he said.
"We may not get the accused to come to the court, but trials in absentia have been done before. We think this court will make real, fair decisions," Mahathir said.
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