(AP) Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, often called the banker to the poor, received the Nobel Peace Prize on Sunday for his efforts to relieve poverty as a cornerstone for building peace.

Six American scientists and a Turkish writer charged with insulting his country also received the prestigious Nobel Prizes on Sunday with pomp and royal splendor.

Honored in the twin award ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway, were findings that cemented the big-bang theory of the universe, broke new ground in genetic research and explored the relationship between inflation and unemployment.

Yunus, 66, often called the banker to the poor, shared the coveted award with his creation, Grameen Bank, for helping people, even beggars, rise above poverty by giving them microcredit — small, usually unsecured loans. The Bangladeshi economist is the developer and founder of the concept of microcredit.

The first Nobel laureate from Bangladesh, Yunus and Grameen Bank bard member Mosammat Taslima Begum accepted the $1.4 million prize from awards committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes at a ceremony in Oslo.

---

View photos of the award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm

---

Receiving the award on behalf of the Grameen Bank was Bangladeshi woman Mosammat Taslima Begum, a member of the bank's board, who has herself borrowed money from the bank.

The ceremony was attended by members of the Norwegian Royal family including King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon.

In his Nobel lecture Yunus said the world must overcome poverty if it ever wants to achieve peace.

"I believe terrorism cannot be won over by military action. Terrorism must be condemned in the strongest language. We must stand solidly against it, and find all the means to end it. We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns," he said.

Grameen Bank, set up in 1983, was the first lender to provide microcredit, giving very small loans to poor Bangladeshis who did not qualify for loans from conventional banks.

No collateral is needed, and repayment is based on an honour system, with nearly a 100 percent repayment rate.

Yunus said the idea has spread around the world, with similar programmes in almost every country.

Yunus described the success of the bank which continues to profit from providing loans to poor Bangladeshi women.

"Grameen Bank gives loans to nearly seven million poor people, 97 per cent of them are women, in 73,000 villages in Bangladesh," said Yunus.

"Grameen Bank gives collateral-free income generating loans, housing loans, student loans and micro-enterprise loans to the poor families and offers a host of attractive savings, pension funds and insurance products for its members," he added.

Nobel Committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said the award was partially intended as an outstretched hand to the Islamic world in an era where Muslims are often demonized because of terrorism.

"The peace prize to Yunus and Grameen Bank is also support for the Muslim country of Bangladesh, and for the Muslim environments in the world that are working for dialogue and collaboration," he said.

The Nobel Prizes, announced in October, are always presented in the two capitals on Dec. 10 to mark the anniversary of the 1896 death of their creator, Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite and stipulated the dual ceremonies in his will. The first prizes were handed out in 1901.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and economics as trumpet fanfares rang out in Stockholm's blue-hued concert hall.

Awards For Dissident Voices, Innovative Thinking

Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk accepted the literature prize for a body of work that illustrates the struggle to find a balance between East and West. His novels include "Snow" and "My Name Is Red."

Pamuk, 54, was tried earlier this year on charges of insulting his country for acknowledging the mass killing of Armenians in World War I, but the charges were dropped over a technicality.

Swedish Academy permanent secretary Horace Engdahl said Pamuk had made his native Istanbul "indispensable literary territory" equal to Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky's St. Petersburg and Irish author James Joyce's Dublin.

U.S. researchers swept all the Nobel science awards this year for the first time since 1983.

The Nobel Prize in medicine went to Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for discovering a powerful way to turn off the effect of specific genes.

©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Back To Top