Nobel Peace Prize insults Islam
• Absurd Inurbane Witless
TEHRAN, Oct 20: A group of ulema and theology students from Iran's theology centre of Qom have hit out at the Nobel Peace Prize win of women's rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi saying it was part of a Western conspiracy against Islam.
In a statement carried by the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper, the group from Qom's main seminary said: "The decision by the Western oppressive societies to award the prize to Ebadi was done in order to ridicule Islam."
Nobel prize ridicules Islam, say scholars
''Not worth all that fuss!'' This is how Iran's President Muhammad Khatami has reacted to the designation of Shirin Ebadi as this year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Khatami's comment is a sign not only of sour grapes--he himself had hoped to get a Nobel when he won his first term in office in 1997 on a platform of reforms--but also an indication of how the ruling mullahs view Ebadi as a symbol of everything they fear and loath.
Celebrating Shirin Ebadi, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Q: What is the most important issue that need addressing?
A: First and foremost, women's rights. And within this, the top priority is a change in family law. The age of criminal responsibly in Iran is very low: for a girl it is nine and for a boy it's 15. This means that if a nine-year-old girl commits the same crime as me - an adult - she'll receive the same punishment that I would, so it's comparing the actions of a nine-year old to the actions of a adult.
IRAN: Interview with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi