Former President Carter Wins Nobel Peace Prize

As his own country readied for a possible war with Iraq, former President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of his role in brokering Middle East peace while in office and his efforts since then to defuse conflicts in some of the world’s most forsaken places.

In awarding the prize to the 78-year-old Carter, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited “his 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 committee cited Carter’s frequent work as an election observer and credited the efforts of the Carter Center, founded in 1982, to combat disease and promote progress in the developing world.

As president, Carter played a central role in achieving the historic Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978. For 13 days at the Camp David, Md., presidential retreat, Carter served as host and mediator while Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin inched toward agreement. Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the peace prize that year, but Carter was not nominated.

Since he left office in 1981, Carter has used his prominence as a former president to broker talks in conflict-torn zones and to push for fair elections and other basic rights in hot spots around the world. Much of that work has been done under the aegis of the Atlanta-based Carter Center, founded by Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.

Carter said the peace prize “serves as an inspiration not only to us, but also to suffering people around the world.”

The Nobel announcement, coming as the U.S. Congress granted President Bush authority to use force against Iraq, stirred fresh controversy over the escalating preparations for a possible war. The Nobel committee’s statement appeared to allude to the Bush administration’s threats to use force, if necessary, to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power,” the committee said, “Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development.”

The Nobel committee chairman, Gunnar Berge, was quoted as saying that the decision to award the prize to Carter “should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken.” But another committee member said the panel had not discussed Bush’s policy toward Iraq and that Berge’s opinion was his own.

Bush called to congratulate the former president around 7 a.m. EDT Friday--2 1/2 hours after Carter got word of the award--and the two spoke for “a couple of minutes,” according to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. “The president was very pleased to be able to extend his congratulations to a former president,” he said.

Fleischer declined to comment on Berge’s comments. “The president thinks this is a great day for Jimmy Carter. That’s what he’s going to focus on,” he said.

In a televised interview, Carter sidestepped a question about the committee’s apparent criticism of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy. But Carter said he would have voted against the Senate resolution authorizing Bush to use force. The resolution passed early Friday morning.

Carter said he was “humbled” by the Nobel prize, for which he had been nominated numerous times. “People everywhere share the same dream of a caring international community that prevents war and oppression. During the past two decades, as Rosalynn and I traveled around the world for the work of our Center, my concept of human rights has grown to include not only the rights to live in peace, but also to adequate health care, food and to economic opportunity,” the former president said in a statement released by the Carter Center.

Carter became the third U.S. president to win the Nobel honor, following Woodrow Wilson in 1920 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

Former President Clinton added his voice to a global chorus of congratulatory goodwill for Carter. “I cannot think of anyone more qualified to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize than President Jimmy Carter,” Clinton said in a statement. “He continues to inspire people everywhere, young and old alike, through his vigorous quest for peace, justice and a better quality of life for all citizens of the world.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was among this year’s nominees for the prize, said Carter “deserved it better than I, and he won it, and I’ll try for it next year.” Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio said Carter’s award was “wholly deserved.” Sampaio praised Carter’s efforts at achieving peace for East Timor, a former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia.

As president from 1977 to 1981, Carter, a Democrat and former Georgia peanut farmer-turned-governor, may have left his deepest mark by emphasizing the notion of human rights as a central element of U.S. foreign policy. He raised the profile of human rights work during a time when such advocacy groups were springing up around the country.

“Jimmy Carter has done more to integrate human rights into U.S. foreign policy than anybody else. Before Jimmy Carter, human rights and U.S. foreign policy were like oil and water,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. Now, Roth said, “no one dares say human rights are unimportant to U.S. foreign policy.”

Since leaving the White House, Carter has been an indefatigable advocate for finding peaceful answers to messy conflicts, from Sudan to Bosnia-Herzogovina. Over the years, his private efforts at crisis resolution have produced a peaceful transition to civilian rule in Haiti and defused nuclear tensions between North Korea and the United States.

Admirers say that Carter has succeeded abroad by making effective use of the prestige--and access to people in high places--lent by his former office.

“People listen to him and respect what he has to say, most of the time. He carries the clout of the United States but not the baggage of the United States,” said Heidi Burgess, co-director of the Conflict Resolution Consortium, which is based at the University of Colorado and examines long-standing disputes, such as those in the Middle East.

Carter will have little time to savor the Nobel honor. Next week, he is to lead a delegation to observe presidential elections in Jamaica. “This is a great day for all of us,” said Phil Wise, a Carter Center official. “But I guarantee that on Monday morning, life will be back to normal and we’ll be back at work on these issues.”

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Times staff writer Edwin Chen in Washington contributed to this report.

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A Profile of New Nobelist:

Name -- James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr.

Age -- 78; born Oct. 1, 1924

Home -- Plains, Ga.

Education -- Graduated in 1946 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Experience -- Entered state politics in 1962. Lost his first gubernatorial campaign in 1966 but won the next election to become Georgia governor in 1971. Served as Democratic National Committee campaign chairman for the 1974 congressional elections. In 1976, defeated Republican President Gerald R. Ford in the first post-Watergate election to become president. Returned home to Georgia after losing in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980 after a presidency undermined by double-digit inflation, an energy crunch and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran.

Carter Center -- With his wife, Rosalynn, and Emory University, created in 1982 the Atlanta-based think tank and activist policy center to address national and international issues.

Family -- Married Rosalynn Smith. The Carters have three sons and a daughter.

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Source: The Carter Center, https://www.cartercenter.org, and The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov