Annan and U.N. collect Nobel Prize

Annan said the world had entered a new millennium through "a gate of fire"

OSLO, Norway -- The United Nations and its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, have collected their centenary Nobel Peace Prize medals.

Annan was joined by South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo, the president of the U.N. General Assembly, who accepted the award on Monday on behalf of the organisation.

The Oslo panel handed the prestigious accolade jointly to the U.N. and Annan for their work towards trying to create a better organised and more peaceful world.

Annan said the world had entered the 21st century through a "gate of fire" that did not recognise borders or nationalities.

"We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire," he said. "If today, after the horror of 11 September, we see better, and we see further -- we will realise that humanity is indivisible.

"In the early beginnings of the 21st century -- a century already violently disabused of any hopes that progress towards global peace and prosperity is inevitable -- this new reality can no longer be ignored," he said.

He also called for global co-operation in fighting poverty, ignorance and disease.

"Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another," he added.

"What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations." Quoting from the Quran, Confucius and the Bible, Annan said all major faiths recognise the values of tolerance and that should be respected.

"The notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs ... has resulted in endless enmity and conflict, leading men to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power," he said.

Annan and Seung-soo held up their gold Nobel medals and diplomas as a gala audience applauded in Oslo City Hall.

The United Nations and Annan also share a cheque for 10 million Swedish crowns ($953,500).

Annan said on Sunday that it felt "almost indecent" to be receiving the peace prize amid conflicts from Afghanistan to the Middle East.

The head of the secretive Norwegian Nobel Committee, Gunnar Berge, praised Annan, a 63-year-old Ghanaian, for breathing new life into the U.N. and giving it an "an external prestige and an internal morale the likes of which the organisation had hardly seen in its over 50-year history."

More than 20 peace laureates from previous years, including East Timorese freedom fighter Jose Ramos-Horta and South Africa's Desmond Tutu, joined them on the stage for the 100th ceremony at Oslo City Hall.

It has been the biggest gathering of Nobel Peace Prize winners in history.

Earlier, more than a dozen Nobel Peace Prize laureates jointly called for disarmament and the non-violent pursuit of peace in the 21st century, as well as the establishment of an international criminal court.

"We offer support for the unrelenting, patient and non-violent pursuit of peace wherever conflicts may rage today or tomorrow, such as the Middle East, Colombia or the Great lakes of Africa," the statement said.

A preliminary list, obtained by Reuters, included signatures from 16 individuals or organisations, such as Polish anti-communist campaigner Lech Walesa, Guatemala human rights advocate Rigoberta Menchu and Amnesty International.

A week of centennial festivities, including a three-day symposium attended by the Dalai Lama and 27 other peace laureates, was to culminate on Tuesday with a concert by Paul McCartney and other stars.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize winners had been announced in September.