New Nobel peace laureate says she has no interest in politics
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2003-10-16 16:33

Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, the winner of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, said.

Wednesday that she has no interest in practicing politics or seeking power.

"If politics means gaining power, God forbid it," Ebadi, who returned to Tehran from Paris on Tuesday night, told a press conference.

"Some people make the mistake to interpret human rights activities as involvement in politics, while human rights should speak for the oppressed whose basic rights have been violated," she added.

Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, noted that she has never deprived herself of the honor of serving the cause of human rights, and neither does she intend to do so in future.

"I was bound to call world attention to the peace message of my noble compatriots and express their hatred of war and conflict," she said.

Commenting on significance of the Nobel peace award, she said it first of all proves the world's approval of people's rights of peace.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Muslim woman is also an evidence that Islam does not promote terrorism, but supports peace and equal rights, she said.

Criticizing the idea of clashes among civilizations, she said the theory aims to "ignite the flames of war."

Islam calls for peace, friendship and love and rejects killing, she stressed, adding that it is meant to be dishonored anywhere that men are killed in the name of Islam.

She noted that some human rights reports about Iran are biased - - too optimistic or pessimistic in reflecting the situation in the country.

Asked about the international pressure on Iran over its controversial nuclear activities, Ebadi expressed her belief that Iran does not possess any atomic bomb and it dose not need to have it.

She said she hoped the negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would result in settling the issue.

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