JAPAN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Italian soccer legend Roberto Baggio honoured with special award by Nobel peace laureates

Record ID: 349427

  • Title: JAPAN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Italian soccer legend Roberto Baggio honoured with special award by Nobel peace laureates
  • Date: 15th November 2010
  • Summary: HIROSHIMA, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 14, 2010) (REUTERS) WORLD SUMMIT OF NOBEL PEACE LAUREATES CLOSING CEREMONY IN HIROSHIMA PEACE MEMORIAL PARK NOBEL LAUREATES ARRIVING THE DALAI LAMA AND OTHER LAUREATES WALKING A-BOMB DOME LAUREATES ON STAGE SPECIAL GUEST ROBERTO BAGGIO TALKING TO HIS WIFE BAGGIO STANDS UP AND WALKS TOWARDS STAGE, FOLLOWED BY INTERPRETER BAGGIO WALKING UP
  • Embargoed: 30th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: International Relations,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5PM5RTGBV0DD5PGMLCV1DRP67
  • Story Text: Italian soccer legend Roberto Baggio receives a special award from Nobel peace laureates for pressing for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi.
    Nobel peace laureates wrapped up a three-day annual conference in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Sunday (November 14), honouring Italian soccer legend Roberto Baggio with a special award for helping press for the freedom of Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, among other humanitarian contributions.
    Baggio, 43, was handed the award from two past Nobel peace winners - former South African President Frederik Willem De Klerk and Iranian peace activist Shirin Ebadi - during the closing ceremony of the 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.
    "I know I can share with all of you the great joy for the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi. I believe that it is not casual but together, we can share this moment long overdue," Baggio told a crowd gathered in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which honours the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing on the city.
    Baggio also extended a message of peace, protesting against any war.
    "Those who have not experienced war, and I, among them, can hardly understand the pain of a mother, whose son, father, husband or brother has been taken away from them. There are no words to explain why a life has been torn apart for no reason," Baggio said.
    Baggio's humanitarian activities have included raising money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake and helping fight bird flu in Asia.
    Past winners of the laureates' summit special peace award includes American actor George Clooney.
    During the three-day conference, the laureates, including Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and their guests discussed nuclear disarmament and human rights issues in China and Myanmar, among other humanitarian and political issues.
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