10/10/2003

Italian religious group welcomes Nobel peace award for Ebadi

The Nobel committee's choice of Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi for the 2003 peace prize was described as a "surprise but a great opportunity" by the Rome-based Roman Catholic Sant' Egidio community on Friday.

"It was a great surprise, especially for the media, because many expected it to go to Pope John Paul II," Sant' Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti said.

"But it's a great choice and a great opportunity for democracy and human rights, and for women's rights in the Muslim world," he added.

Sant' Egidio is a Catholic lay community whose work for peace and human rights, particularly in Africa, had made it one of the leading contenders for the prize.

Marazziti said the choice of Ebadi meant, "The battle for peace and against terrorism is succeeding in building bridges between cultures, and freeing religions and cultures from the tendency towards fundamentalism."