Carter's Nobel prize reflects Bush snub

BETTY LIU, CHRISTOPHER BROWN-HUMES, JAMES HARDING / The Financial Times (UK) 11oct02

Jimmy Carter, the former US president, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a move seen as criticism of US President George W. Bush's policy on Iraq.

Mr Carter, president between 1977 and 1981, was awarded the prize in recognition of his decades-long efforts to promote democracy and resolve conflicts around the world, including his role in bringing about the Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt.

	Carter with Yasser Arafat in Plains GA, to discuss solutions to conflict in Israel 1997 John Kuntz / Reuters

The former president, who has little rapport with Mr Bush, has been critical of the US administration, arguing against a US military attack in Iraq without United Nations support.

Gunnar Berge, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said: "With the position Carter has taken, the award can and must also be seen as criticism of the line the current US administration has taken on Iraq."

A spokesman for Mr Bush said the Nobel committee chairman's view would have no effect on the administration's policy on Iraq. "The president called former president Jimmy Carter to congratulate him on this prestigious award. They spoke for a few minutes," he said.

Mr Bush is said to "respect" Mr Carter but he has rarely sought Mr Carter's advice and has not asked for his services as an envoy.

Mr Carter, whose presidency was blighted by the Iranian hostage crisis and whose role in foreign affairs since then has often been controversial, declined to discuss the situation in Iraq but said in a statement: "People everywhere share the same dream of a caring international community that prevents war and oppression."

He is the third US president to receive the prize, worth $1m (£645,000, €1.02m), following in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. He had been nominated several times before.

The decision this year has particular resonance following last year's September 11 attacks in the US and the subsequent launch of the war on terrorism. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, was also a candidate for the prize, named in honour of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and inventor of dynamite.

Mr Bush and Tony Blair, UK prime minister, were also nominated, although their chances were significantly reduced as both leaders sought to win support for a military strike against Iraq.

At the age of 78, Mr Carter has spent the last 20 years as an unofficial ambassador of peace and democracy, working primarily through the Carter Center, the Atlanta-based foundation he founded.

Apart from helping broker the Camp David agreement in 1978, Mr Carter has played a key role in many pivotal moments in history, including helping remove Panamanian dictator General Manuel Noriega from power and overseeing the 1990 electoral defeat of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Though failing to win re-election in 1981 largely because of the Iranian hostage crisis, Mr Carter has earned the respect of many people worldwide for his tireless peace-keeping work.