Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi wins 2003 Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway — Human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize today for her work fighting for democracy and the rights of women and children, the first Muslim woman and the first Iranian to receive the accolade.

Ebadi, Iran's first female judge who also was jailed on charges of slandering government officials, was praised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions in the struggle for human rights.

The relatively unknown 56-year-old lawyer was chosen despite speculation that former Czech President Vaclav Havel or Pope John Paul II might win.

"This prize doesn't belong to me only — it belongs to all people who work for human rights and democracy in Iran," Ebadi told The Associated Press in an interview in Paris, where she was visiting.

She said she was completely surprised when told she had won. "And then I was very happy and glad," she added.

At a news conference, where Ebadi appeared without a Muslim headscarf, Ebadi said that in her view, "there is no difference between Islam and human rights."

"Therefore, the religious ones should also welcome this award," she said. "The prize means you can be a Muslim and at the same time have human rights."

Ebadi said Iran's most pressing human rights crisis is the lack of freedom of speech, and she urged the government to immediately release prisoners jailed for expressing their opinions.

She also said she hoped the award would send a message to the Iranian government, which has been accused of pursuing a nuclear weapons program. The International Atomic Energy Agency has given Iran until the end of the month to prove it has no plans to produce such weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is strictly for generating electricity.

"I hope it will have an effect in Iran. As a person who has actively been involved in human rights, I am against war and conflict, and countries and nations do not need war," she said.

Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Ebadi's win hours after it was announced. Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said there was no official reaction.

The Nobel committee said Ebadi is well-known and admired by Iranians for her defense in court of victims of attacks by hard-liners on freedom of speech and political freedom.