[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Nobel laureates say "No" to war with Iraq

[Margaret E. Kosal]

>Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 09:13:12 -0300
>
>http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bl/Qitaly-nobel-iraq.RlMD_COL.html
>
>Nobel laureates say "No" to war with Iraq
>
>
>ROME, Oct 21 (AFP) - Nobel peace prize laureates meeting in Rome on
>Monday delivered a resounding "No" to war with Iraq and gave their
>full backing to the need for UN-brokered diplomacy to avoid a
>conflict.
>
>In a joint statement at the end of the third annual forum of Nobel
>peace laureates, participants including former Soviet president
>Mikhail Gorbachev (a winner in 1990) and former Polish president Lech
>Walesa (1983) said recourse to arms as a way of settling problems
>between states was unacceptable.
>
>"I believe that now we can be more optimistic regarding Iraq,"
>Gorbachev told reporters before leaving for Moscow.
>
>"The United States has in fact accepted a plan for a double
>resolution, which will allow UN inspectors to verify the destruction
>of weapons of mass destruction and therefore to present their report
>to the Security Council."
>
>Other prize winners attending included Britain's Joseph Rotblat
>(1995), Betty Williams (1976) of Northern Ireland, Adolfo Perez
>Esquivel (1980) of Argentina and Guatemala's Rigoberta Menchu (1992).
>
>
>"The real problem today is not that Iraq possesses nuclear weapons,
>but that Bush's America does not exclude the possibility of using
>them first -- even as a response to a conventional weapons attack,"
>said Rotblat, a scientist who was awarded the Nobel for his anti-
>nuclear work.
>
>Other main points of the conference's declaration covered the
>importance of disarmament work; the war on terrorism and its
>potential risk of curtailing civil rights; and the search for peace
>in the Middle East.
>
>The document will be sent to world leaders including US President
>George W. Bush, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israeli Prime
>Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
>
>Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said the annual gathering placed the
>Eternal City at the crossroads for international dialogue for peace
>and justice.
>
>Former US president Jimmy Carter, this year's Nobel peace prize
>laureate, was invited to the forum but it was not known why he did
>not attend.
>
>Gorbachev, whose Gorbachev Foundation organized the event along with
>the Rome city government, praised Carter as a worthy recipient of the
>prestigious award and noted his "commitment to the peaceful
>resolution of conflicts, for the reinforcement and spread of
>democracy and for the defense of human rights".