Carter gets peace prize in rebuke to Bush
The Norwegian awards committee said its choice was a criticism of current US policy and "a kick in the leg" to those following the same path.
The 78-year-old Carter was honoured for "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development".
The award - worth €1 million - singled out his "vital contribution" to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, his efforts in conflict resolution on several continents and the promotion of human rights after his presidency.
Carter, the 39th US president, said he was "deeply grateful" for the honour in a statement posted on the website of the Carter Centre, the ambitious, Atlanta-based think tank and activist policy centre he and his wife Rosalynn founded in 1982.
"During the past two decades... my concept of human rights has grown to include not only the rights to live in peace, but also to adequate health care, shelter, food, and to economic opportunity," he said.
"I hope this award reflects a universal acceptance and even embrace of this broad-based concept of 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," he said.
The secretive, five-member committee made its decision last week after months of deliberations as it sought the right message for a world still dazed by the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the war on terrorism that followed and concern about a possible US military strike on Iraq. "(The award) should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken," said Gunnar Berge, chairman of the Nobel committee.
Carter, who was president from 1977-1981, brokered the 1978 agreements that were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the US presidential retreat Camp David.
But while Sadat and Begin shared the 1978 Peace Prize for their efforts, the Nobel committee said Carter was left out due to a technicality he was not nominated in time.
Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio said the prize was "a just reward" and "wholly deserved". He singled out Carter's efforts in finding a peaceful solution for East Timor, a former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also applauded the choice.
"Jimmy Carter has done a great service with his mediation efforts," Schroeder's spokesman said. "The chancellor is glad that these efforts have now found this recognition."
Carter, a Democrat and former Georgia governor, rose from life as a small town peanut farmer to become US President in 1976 after running a campaign that stressed honesty in the wake of President Richard Nixon's Watergate controversy.
But he returned home after a landslide loss to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980 after a presidency undermined by double-digit inflation, an energy crunch that forced Americans to queue for petrol, and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran.
Carter overcame the voters' rejection and has doggedly pursued a role on the world stage as a peacemaker and champion of democracy and human rights.
He helped defuse growing nuclear tensions in Korea, then helped narrowly avert a US invasion of Haiti in 1994, as well as leading conflict mediation and elections monitoring efforts around the world.
"In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development," the citation said.
The Norwegian Nobel committee received a record 156 nominations. The list remains secret for 50 years, but those who nominate sometimes announce their choice, which this year included British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and US President George Bush.
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