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Journalism of Courage
Former US President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for a quest for democracy and human rights in an award that also faulted Washington’s drive to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Carter, who was President from 1977 to 1981, won from a record field of 156 candidates vying for the prize. Carter said that as a Nobel laureate he would continue to speak about peace and human rights.
“This honour serves as an inspiration not only to us but also to suffering people around the world and I accept it on their behalf,” Carter said in a statement released by his non-profit Carter Center in Atlanta.
‘‘I will continue to talk about peace and human rights and the elimination of suffering,’’ he told CNN.
Carter repeatedly declined to comment on US lawmakers’ approval of a resolution authorising a strike on Iraq and whether the US Government should use force to compel Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to abandon his weapons programme.
The five-member “secretive” committee praised decades of ‘‘untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development’’.
Since he left office, Carter has won praise for tireless work in trying to bring peace from West Asia to North Korea. He has been repeatedly nominated for the prize, worth $1 million. (Reuters)
