
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994                   TAG: 9410170069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MIDEAST EFFORTS WIN NOBEL

PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres - leaders who turned from hatred to handshakes - won the Nobel Peace Prize on a day when true peace in the Middle East seemed distant.

Friday's announcement provoked controversy and came at a precarious time in the peace process that began when Arafat and Rabin signed a landmark accord last year at the White House.

An Israeli soldier held hostage by Palestinians died Friday in a firefight that erupted during an Israeli rescue attempt.

Rabin, 72, called it a ``moment of truth.'' He said, ``The work is not yet finished, and the prize is for the future more than it is a reward for the efforts of peace that have been made up until now.''

Arafat, 65, said, ``The prize is not for me. It is for my people who suffered a lot, people who have been able to achieve the peace of the brave, for our martyrs, for our prisoners, for our children. ''

Their gamble on peace is opposed by many of their own people - and critics on both sides were vocal Friday.

Eliahu Ben-Elissar, a leading member of Israel's opposition Likud party, said acceptance of the prize by Rabin and Peres ``would defame the names of Arafat's victims.''

In Gaza City, worshipers cheered as militant leader Mahmoud Zahar bitterly criticized Arafat. ``It is known that this prize is only given to those who serve the policies of the West,'' Zahar said.

One of the five voting members of the Nobel committee, Kare Kristiansen, resigned in protest.

``Arafat is not in any way worthy of this prestigious prize,'' said Kristiansen. ``His past is too tainted with violence, terrorism and bloodshed, and his future too unpredictable.''

Another point of dispute was the apparent last-minute addition of Peres, 71, to the list. Reports earlier this week suggested only Arafat and Rabin would share the prize, worth about $933,000. Never before have three people been named.

But Peres' advocates lobbied on his behalf. They noted that he led Israeli officials, including Rabin, in pressing for peace and was instrumental in negotiating the agreement that yielded limited Palestinian self-rule.

by CNB