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| Cape Verde ex-leader Pedro Pires wins Mo Ibrahim prize | Cape Verde ex-leader Pedro Pires wins Mo Ibrahim prize |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Former Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires has been awarded this year's $5m (£3.2m) Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa. | Former Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires has been awarded this year's $5m (£3.2m) Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa. |
| The prize committee said Mr Pires, who stepped down in August, had helped make the archipelago off the West African coast a "model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity". | The prize committee said Mr Pires, who stepped down in August, had helped make the archipelago off the West African coast a "model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity". |
| The prize is supposed to be awarded each year to a democratically elected leader who has voluntarily left office. | The prize is supposed to be awarded each year to a democratically elected leader who has voluntarily left office. |
| There has been no winner for two years. | There has been no winner for two years. |
| The committee said there had been no suitable candidate. | The committee said there had been no suitable candidate. |
| The $5m award, given over 10 years followed by $200,000 a year for life, is the world's most valuable individual prize. | The $5m award, given over 10 years followed by $200,000 a year for life, is the world's most valuable individual prize. |
| The previous winners are Botswana's President Festus Mogae and Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano. | The previous winners are Botswana's President Festus Mogae and Mozambique's Joaquim Chissano. |
| Sudan-born telecoms entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim says the prize is needed because many leaders of sub-Saharan African countries come from poor backgrounds and are tempted to hang on to power for fear that poverty awaits them when they leave office. | Sudan-born telecoms entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim says the prize is needed because many leaders of sub-Saharan African countries come from poor backgrounds and are tempted to hang on to power for fear that poverty awaits them when they leave office. |
| 'Personal integrity' | 'Personal integrity' |
| The 77 year old was at the gym when he heard the news. | |
| Mr Pires played a key role in the fight against Portuguese colonial rule and became prime minister at independence in 1975. | Mr Pires played a key role in the fight against Portuguese colonial rule and became prime minister at independence in 1975. |
| He became president in 2001 and stepped down after two terms, rejecting calls to change the constitution to remain in office, like several African leaders have done. | |
| Committee head Salim Ahmed Salim praised his "humility" and "personal integrity". | Committee head Salim Ahmed Salim praised his "humility" and "personal integrity". |
| "Dismissing outright suggestions that the constitution could be altered to allow him to stand again, he said: 'This is a simple matter of faithfulness to the documents that guide a state of law'." | "Dismissing outright suggestions that the constitution could be altered to allow him to stand again, he said: 'This is a simple matter of faithfulness to the documents that guide a state of law'." |
| With Mr Pires not standing, opposition leader Jorge Carlos Fonseca won the August elections against Manuel Inocencio Sousa from the governing African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). | |
| Cape Verde - an Atlantic archipelago of 10 islands - has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, partly due to a boom in tourism. | Cape Verde - an Atlantic archipelago of 10 islands - has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, partly due to a boom in tourism. |
| It is now classed by the United Nations as a middle-income country. | It is now classed by the United Nations as a middle-income country. |
| But unemployment and poverty are still high, forcing many people to emigrate. | But unemployment and poverty are still high, forcing many people to emigrate. |
| Some 700,000 Cape Verdeans live abroad, more than the 500,000 at home, official statistic show. | Some 700,000 Cape Verdeans live abroad, more than the 500,000 at home, official statistic show. |