Congratulations Shirin Ebadi awarded Nobel Peace Prize----

Ebadi is the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901. She is the 11th woman to win and the third Muslim -- after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 1994 and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1978. Last year, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won.

Iran Woman Lawyer Ebadi Wins Nobel Peace Prize
By Alister Doyle

OSLO (Reuters) - Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in an award intended to foster wider democracy in the Islamic world.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Ebadi -- Iran's first female judge before the 1979 Islamic revolution forced her to step aside in favor of men -- for fighting for children and women and for taking on cases others were too afraid to touch.

Ebadi, 56, won from a record field of 165 candidates including Pope John Paul and former Czech President Vaclav Havel. She said she was shocked but proud to learn she had won the $1.3 million prize, to be handed out in Oslo on December 10.

Iran's conservative-run state media reported the country's first Nobel peace laureate without comment, after several hours, while the reformist government cheered the prize.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Ebadi courageous and many other foreign leaders hailed the award. But ex-Polish President Lech Walesa, the 1983 winner, grumbled that the ailing 83-year-old Polish pope should have won.

"We hope that the prize will be an inspiration for all those who struggle for human rights and democracy in her country, in the Muslim world, and in all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support," said the Committee, which is made up of five Norwegians chosen by parliament.

"This prize gives me the energy to continue my fight," Ebadi told a news conference during a visit to Paris, without the headscarf required back home under Islamic law.

Ebadi is a lawyer and part-time lecturer at Tehran University. Jailed several times and once branded a threat to the Islamic system, she said she was honored by messages of congratulation that came even from the Vatican.

FREE PRISONERS
"It's not because you're a Muslim that you can't respect human rights, so all real Muslims should be really happy with this prize," Ebadi said. She urged the release of political prisoners in Iran.

Ebadi is the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901. She is the 11th woman to win and the third Muslim -- after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 1994 and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1978. Last year, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won.

Reaction in Iran reflected the split between President Mohammad Khatami's government and hard-liners who wield power. In a statement read to Reuters the government praised Ebadi.

"This is an honor for Iranian women and shows Iranian Muslim women have gained a positive atmosphere for their activities," it said.

"We hope her views will be noticed inside and outside Iran."

A government official will welcome her at Tehran airport on her return on Tuesday, but hard-liners were not happy.

"This prize carries the message that Europe intends to put further pressure on human rights issues in Iran as a political move to achieve its particular objectives," Amir Mohebian, an editor of the hard-line Resalat newspaper, told Reuters.

The United States congratulated Ebadi, saying a lifetime champion of human dignity and democracy had won well-deserved recognition.

"She has worked tirelessly and suffered at the hands of the clerical regime, including imprisonment for promoting democracy and human rights," a White House spokesman said.

Nobel watchers say the committee has wanted to promote the cause of moderate Muslims since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to try to avert a gulf of religious intolerance after U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Iran was branded part of an "axis of evil" by U.S. President George Bush with pre-war Iraq and North Korea (news - web sites).

"Ebadi stands for a non-Western way of looking at human rights. That is a strong signal," said Kari Vogt, a University of Oslo researcher who had correctly tipped her for the prize.

Nobel watchers say the pope's opposition to birth control, pre-marital sex, homosexuality and female priests seemed outmoded to many in mainly Protestant Norway, especially women.

Annan said: "I hope this award will...empower women to speak out and insist on their rights."

Ebadi had often defended controversial causes. In 2000, she was given a suspended sentence after a court convicted her and another lawyer of producing a video alleging that prominent conservatives supported activities of violent vigilantes.

 

Yeah they didn't need to throw that in the article, it is confusing politically either way. Either she is an even greater hero for rising above her "axis of evil government" or Bush is an idiot for naming Iran an "Axis of evil" in the first place. If Iran allows political reform and free speech to the point someone could become a Nobel winner without being arrested how could they be so evil? Good point MC.