wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Nobel peace prize affirms multilateralism and hope

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 07/10/2005

2005 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AFFIRMS MULTILATERALISM AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

This year's Nobel Peace Prize affirms that "multilateral, legal and
peaceable conduct of international affairs is not only possible but
productive," said Peter Weiderud, director of the World Council of
Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (WCC/CCIA),
commenting on the prize awarded to Mohamed El Baradei today. Weiderud also
said that "control of nuclear arms and technology" is an "incontrovertible
recognition of the God-given value of human life" and that, therefore, the
award represents an "important investment in hope as well as peace".

The full text of the WCC comment follows:

Awarding the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize to Mohamed El Baradei and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) honours an institutional
contribution to peace, and makes timely affirmation that even in deep
crises, multilateral, legal and peaceable conduct of international affairs
is not only possible but productive.

The IAEA and its director receive this honour as agents of international
law and stewards of collective security. Using carefully mandated
inspections, the IAEA was verifying that Iraq was not a nuclear threat
when a pre-emptive invasion ended their measured approach. In Iran and
elsewhere, the IAEA continues to show that treaties and inspections can
still work despite serious erosion of certain nations' commitments to
nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the World Council of Churches has held
that elimination and prohibition of nuclear weapons are the only sure
protection against nuclear war, and that verification, which the IAEA
represents, is the instrument necessary for a nuclear weapons-free
world.

The control of nuclear arms and technology is an unequivocal undertaking
on the world's agenda. It is also an incontrovertible recognition of the
God-given value of human life. With this award, the Nobel Committee in
Oslo has made an important investment in hope as well as peace.

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.