World Notes PRIZES

The Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights has a surreal and oxymoronic ring. Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, better known as a patron of terrorism than a benefactor of humanitarian causes, has unaccountably set up a Swiss foundation to bestow an annual award on a Third World figure in the forefront of "liberation struggles." Last week Nelson Mandela, the jailed black South African leader, was named the first recipient of the prize and the $250,000 that goes with it.

Gaddafi, who put $10 million in trust to fund the award, had no say in choosing the winner. Swiss Socialist Deputy Jean Ziegler, a member of the jury that selected Mandela, said "ironclad guarantees" assured that Tripoli's influence would not be felt in Geneva. Nonetheless, human rights activists were clearly worried about the new philanthropist. Said an official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: "If the jury would consider people like Salman Rushdie, it would give more credibility to its independence."