A Swedish foundation has selected former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sudanese human rights lawyer Mossaad Mohamed Ali as recipients of the 2006 Olof Palme Prize.
The Olof Palme Memorial Fund announced Tuesday in Stockholm that Annan and Ali will share the prize of about $75,000 for their efforts to protect human rights, pace and security. The group said it will present the award in May.
The award is conferred for outstanding achievement in the spirit of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot and killed on a Stockholm street in 1986.
The Palme memorial fund board cited Annan's courage in defending U.N. principles and international law during his nine years of service, which ended in 2006.
The board praised Ali for providing legal and medical assistance to victims of torture in Darfur and for his courageous criticism of crimes against human rights.
Previous Olof Palme winners include Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, former Czech president Vaclav Havel and the human rights group Amnesty International.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.