COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) --
Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke listed three wishes on his 90th
birthday: for the world to embrace cleaner energy resources, for a lasting
peace in his adopted home, Sri Lanka, and for evidence of extraterrestrial
beings.
"I have always
believed that we are not alone in this universe,'' Clarke said in a speech to a
small gathering of scientists, astronauts and government officials Sunday in
Colombo where he lives.
Humans are waiting until
extraterrestrial beings "call us or give us a sign,'' he said. "We
have no way of guessing when this might happen. I hope sooner rather than
later.''
Clarke
has written more than 100
sci-fi books, including "2001:
A Space Odyssey.'' His fiction predicted space travel before rockets were
even test fired and envisioned computers dominating ordinary lives.
On a different note, and
just a day after delegates at a U.N. conference in Indonesia agreed to a
blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009, he urged the world to consider
switching to environmentally friendly fuels.
"I would like to see
us kicking our current addiction to oil and adopt clean energy resources,''
Clarke said.
The British-born author
moved to Sri Lanka in 1954 and became a resident guest -- meaning he can stay
permanently without a resident visa -- in 1975. Since then, an ethnic conflict
has flared and continues to rage between government forces and Tamil Tiger
separatists on the tropical island. More than 70,000 people have been killed in
the fighting.
"I have been living in
Sri Lanka for 50 years and half that time I have been a sad witness to the
bitter conflict that divides my adopted country,'' Clarke said. "I dearly
wish to see a lasting peace being established in Sri Lanka. Peace just cannot
be wished, it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence.''
Clarke, who suffers from
post-polio syndrome and is confined to a wheelchair, cut a cake with "Happy
Birthday Sir Arthur'' written on it, as Sri Lanka's President Mahinda
Rajapakse, visiting astronauts and scientists sang "Happy Birthday.'' He
was knighted in 1998.
Russian Alexei Leonov, who took
the first walk in space in March 1965 and was a guest at Clarke's birthday
tea party Sunday, gave him a medal from the Federation of Cosmonauts of Russia.
"Sometimes I am asked
how I would like to be remembered,'' Clarke said. "I have had a diverse
career as a writer, underwater explorer and space promoter. Of all these I
would like to be remembered as a writer.''
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