Shirin Ebadi, Iranian rights activist, wins Nobel Peace PrizeAFP  OSLO (AFP) - An Iranian human rights activist and feminist lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, becoming the first Muslim woman to win the honour in the prize's 102-year history. Ebadi, 56, was given the prize "for her efforts for democracy and human rights," particularly for women and children in her country, which has been under Islamic rule since a 1979 revolution, the Nobel Committee said.
In a reaction to AFP immediately after the news, Edabi said she was "shocked" at the unexpected honour but believed the prize -- which carries a 1.1-million-euro (1.3-million-dollar) purse -- "will be important for my work for human rights and for citizens in Iran."
At a media conference in Paris where she is on a private visit, Ebadi used her newfound fame to call for all political prisoners in Iran to be released.
"I call on the Iranian government to respect human rights and I hope in the future things will move positively ... What is most urgent is respect for freedom of expression and the release of prisoners of conscience," she said.
In a pointed gesture, she appeared without the Muslim headscarf Iran demands its women wear in public everywhere, even outside the country.
The Nobel Committee said part of the reason it chose Ebadi was because of its tradition of provoking certain countries in a bid to "speed up" the process of human rights and democracy in areas of the world.
That message was not lost on Iran's regime, which made no mention of the prize for four hours after it was announced.
An official spokesman, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, initially told AFP the government was "happy" at Ebadi's award, but he later retracted the statement, saying a new, written one would be issued.
A conservative Iranian leader, Assadollah Badamshian, chief of the Islamic Coalition Association, called the honour a "disgrace" and claimed that Iran's arch-foe, the United States, had a hand in giving the prize to a "so-called reformist".
Iranian reformists, though, hailed the news, and Vice President Ali Abtahi, a more outspoken member of the government, said: "The fact that a lawyer has won this prize gives us hope that the judicial system will change its methods," referring to the conservative-controlled judiciary in Iran.
But the reformist government of embattled President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites), which treads a delicate line between a conservative-controlled judiciary and powerful hardline mullahs, later came out and said "We hope that Mrs. Ebadi's points of view will be taken into consideration both inside and outside the borders of Iran.
Ebadi became Iran's first woman judge in 1974, but lost that post in the Islamic Revolution five years later when Islamic clerics took over and decreed that women could not preside over courts.
Since then, she has sought changes to give greater rights to women and children, but says her struggle was against Iran's patriarchy, not Islam.
"Islam is not incompatible with human rights and all Muslims should be glad of this prize.... For 20 years I have been putting out the message that it is possible to be Muslim and have laws that respect human rights," she said.
Her views, her defence of dissidents and her investigation of the murders of intellectuals and authors that were eventually pinned on "rogue" Iranian intelligence agents earned her the wrath of her country's authorities and a five-month spell in prison.
But she has also helped bring about a reform of Iran's family laws, notably on divorce and inheritance, and has emerged as something of an unofficial spokesperson for Iran's women.
The Oslo-based Nobel Committee -- a panel of two men and three women which decides who gets the esteemed Peace Prize -- selected her from a record field of 165 candidates, among them Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II and former Czech president Vaclav Havel. The committee said Ebadi, who is married with two daughters, "has stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety ... In an era of violence, she has consistently supported non-violence." "It is a pleasure for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to a woman who is part of the Muslim world, and of whom that world can be proud -- along with all who fight for human rights wherever they live," it said. "We hope the prize will be an inspiration for all those who struggle for human rights and democracy in her country, in the Muslim world, and in all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support." But the award drew immediate criticism from supporters of the ailing pope, who saw his 25 years of promoting peace going unrewarded by the Nobel committee. The Nobel Committee made "a big mistake" in snubbing the Polish-born pontiff, Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and 1983 Peace Prize laureate, said in Warsaw. "I have nothing against this woman, but if there is someone alive in the world who deserves this distinction it is certainly the Holy Father.... The one who has done the most in the world, for all religions, did not get the prize," he told Polish television. The pope, though, was said to be gracious about being overlooked. A Vatican (news - web sites) source said he would be sending a message of congratulations to Ebadi. "The fact that the Nobel prize is being given to a woman and a Muslim is a reason for great satisfaction," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous. Ebadi will be handed the Nobel Peace Prize in a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the 106th anniversary of the death of its founder, Alfred Nobel.
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