Carter receives Nobel Prize

SAYING that war is always evil, former US President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday and urged the world to accept UN leadership in tackling challenges from the Middle East to global poverty.

Mr Carter, calling himself a "citizen of a troubled world", also made veiled criticisms of US President George W Bush for opposing UN-led schemes to protect the environment or to create an international criminal court.

"Global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus," Mr Carter told a ceremony in Oslo City Hall after collecting a Nobel gold medal and diploma to a standing ovation.

"Imperfect as it may be, there is no doubt that this can best be done through the United Nations," said the 78-year-old Democrat, who was president from 1977-81. The United Nations and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan won the 2001 Peace Prize.

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil," he told an audience of about 1,000 people including his wife Rosalynn and Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja.

"But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children," he said.

Mr Carter, who almost won the prize in 1978 for brokering an Israeli-Egyptian peace deal, also said the world was in many ways a more dangerous place in the new millennium because of "a plethora of civil wars" and "appalling acts of terrorism".

Mr Carter will also receive a cheque for over 1 million which he will use for peace work at his Carter Centre in the US. He gave a beaming smile on receiving the prize as even the royal couple stood to applaud.

The head of the Nobel Committee, Gunnar Berge said Mr Carter was honoured for decades working for peace, democracy and human rights. Mr Berge did not repeat controversial remarks in announcing the prize two months ago that it was also a "kick in the leg" to Mr Bush's policies on Iraq.

"Jimmy Carter will probably not go down in history as the most effective president. But he is certainly the best ex-president the country ever had," he said.

Mr Carter reiterated calls on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to comply fully with UN weapons inspectors. "The world insists that this be done," he said.

Mr Bush is threatening to attack Iraq, with or without UN backing, if Washington concludes that Baghdad is hiding weapons of mass destruction. Mr Carter has repeatedly urged Bush not to act without UN support.

And Mr Carter urged Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, in line with a UN resolution, as a key step toward peace in the Middle East.

He also made a plea for acceptance of global standards on issues including a ban on land mines, creation of an international criminal court to try war crimes and schemes to combat global warming mainly caused by burning fossil fuels.

"Those agreements already adopted must be fully implemented, and others should be pursued aggressively," Mr Carter said. Mr Bush has declined to sign up to several key global pacts.

Mr Carter also praised the US, saying it had used its power with restraint in the past.

"We have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom," he said.

Mr Carter said he had previously pointed to "the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth" as the main challenge of the millennium.

"The results of this disparity are root causes of most of the world's unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS," he said.

"We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes and we must," he said.