German Ex-President Gets Tolerance Prize

Berlin's Jewish Museum late Saturday awarded the 2004 Prize for Tolerance and Reconciliation to former German president Johannes Rau and German entrepreneur Michael Otto in a ceremony attended by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. With Rau absent due to sickness the prize was accepted by his wife Christina in front of some 300 political and business figures including President Horst Köhler. In a lengthy speech, Schröder made a plea for peaceful cohabitation between Germans and foreigners. Following the recent murder of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh by an Islamist, the chancellor said tolerance in a democracy "can only exist in the framework of clearly defined boundaries." (AFP)