Ebadi said she opposed resorting to military force to enforce democracy, in response to a question on how the international community should pressure Iran to open up to democratic freedom and human rights.

"Democracy should not be used to attack other countries, to launch military attacks against other countries," Ebadi said, suggesting that she did not want to see a repetition in Iran of the US-led war on Iraq.

"Any kind of military assault is futile and it's null and void," she said. "The realization of democracy is a national and patriotic duty of ours," she said.

While the 2003 Peace Prize laureate, who was speaking at a press conference at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, did not specifically mention the United States, Washington is generally viewed as Iran's biggest antagonist.

The US counts Iran as one of the three countries in the so-called axis of evil, along with Iraq and North Korea.

US President George W. Bush has accused Tehran of producing weapons of mass destruction, of supporting international terrorism and interfering in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Ebadi, 56, who will be the first Muslim woman ever to receive the prestigious prize, was honoured by the Nobel committee for her democracy-building efforts and her work to improve human rights in Iran.

Opposed to all armed conflicts, Ebadi instead called for international public opinion and the United Nations to pressure Iran to reform.

Dressed in a pink pantsuit, and with no hijab, the headscarf that all Iranian women are required by law to wear both inside and outside the country, she reiterated the compatibilty of Islam and human rights.

"If innocent people are killed in the name of Islam, that's wrong," she said when asked what she thought of a regime that supports stonings.

The human rights activist was recently the subject of threats from Iranian hardliners herself, when it became known that she would not wear a headscarf when she accepts her award on Wednesday.

"If the peace sought by me and the peace sought by you is in conflict, then there is no peace at all," she said, calling for nations and people to show respect for each other's differences.

Shouts from dozens of demonstrators standing out in the icy wind across the street from the Nobel Institute were a reminder that not everyone agrees with Ebadi's conciliatory stance to Islam.

Kimia Pazoki, a 37-year-old member of the Iranian Refugee Council and a high school teacher in Sweden, paraded in front of the Institute before Ebadi's press conference, wearing a chador covered in chains.

"For Muslim women, this is reality," she said, pointing to the chains.

Giving Ebadi the Nobel Peace Prize was a mistake, she insisted.

"She is too soft. She gets along with the regime... We believe that you can't be a Muslim woman and be free."

Meanwhile, at a seperate demonstration in front of the Norwegian parliament building, about 200 members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) demonstrated in support of the human rights activist.

Carrying pictures of Iranian activists who have been killed by, or with the blessing of the regime, the demonstrators encouraged Ebadi to take a more critical tone to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, as well as to the Islamic clergy in the country.

"We would like to encourage Mrs. Ebadi, because she has immunity, to be more critical of the regime," said Firousz Mahvi, a member of NCRI's foreign affairs council.

The demonstrators are likely to be dissapointed. Ebadi, who has quietly worked to improve the rights of women, children and dissidents in the Islamic republic, said Tuesday that she intends to continue to work on the sidelines, outside of the political sphere.

Ebadi, who is the 11th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, will receive the award from chairman of the Nobel Committee Ole Mjoes at a formal ceremony on Wednesday in Oslo's City Hall.

The prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal, and a check for 10 million Swedish kronor (about 1.4 million dollars, 1.1 million euros).

WAR.WIRE