Human rights activist says war hurts efforts

WASHINGTON — Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, says the Bush administration has made her work of promoting democracy and human rights harder by invading Iraq.

While President Bush says the invasion will spread democracy in the Middle East, Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer awarded the peace prize in December, says the toppling of Saddam Hussein has strengthened Islamic fundamentalists in both Iraq and Iran and given her country's theocratic regime a new justification "to keep people silent."

"Under slogans such as protecting national security or fighting terrorism, there's always a reason to act against and silence human rights advocates," she says. "So the U.S. military attack on Iraq ... hurt the democracy process in Iran and in the region."

Human rights activist says war hurts efforts....