English/Nat
U-S President Bill Clinton has congratulated the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, but says others deserve equal credit for the strides toward peace in Northern Ireland.
The prize was awarded on Friday to the leaders of Northern Ireland's two main political parties, John Hume and David Trimble.
Clinton says they aren't the only ones working to end the violence in Northern Ireland.
U-S President Bill Clinton has added his congratulations to the growing chorus of voices praising the Nobel Prize-winning peace efforts in Northern Ireland.
At a ceremony in the Rose Garden on Friday, Clinton congratulated winners David Hume of the S-D-L-P and David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I'd like to first say how very pleased I was personally and as President that the Nobel Prize Committee has rewarded the courage and the people of Northern Ireland by giving the Nobel Peace Prize to John Hume and to David Trimble today. I'm very grateful for that."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President
Clinton also mentioned that without Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, there would have been no peace.
Clinton paid special thanks to former U-S Senator George Mitchell, who mediated the peace talks.
He also credited Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern British Prime Minister Tony Blair, British Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam and Seamus Mallon, the Catholic deputy leader of Northern Ireland's new cross-community Assembly.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"For 30 years John Hume has been committed to achieving peace through negotiations not confrontation and violence. He has been an inspiration to the nationalist community, to all the people of Northern Ireland and indeed all around the world. David Trimble as unionist leader, took up the challenge of peace with rare courage, negotiating and beginning to implement the Good Friday Accord. Both have earned this award but I believe there are others too who deserve credit for their indispensable role, beginning with Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, without whom there would have been no peace. Prime Minister Ahern, Prime Minister Blair, Mo Mowlam, their predecessors without whom there would have been no peace, other Irish leaders like Seamus Mallon and I would like to say a special word of thanks to Senator George Mitchell for his role in the peace talks."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President
The U-S leader has been in close consultation with all members of the negotiating body, in their efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
So far, the three decades of unrest have left at least three thousand people dead.
