Associated Press International
 Sunday 8:17 PM GMT


American doctor in Sudan awarded Aurora humanitarian prize

YEREVAN, Armenia

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - An American doctor who has spent years working
in a fighting-ravaged region of Sudan has been awarded the
$1.1-million Aurora Prize for exceptional humanitarianism.

Dr. Tom Catena was presented the prize Sunday in Armenia's capital,
Yerevan. The prize was established in remembrance of the Armenian
survivors of a mass killing by Ottoman Turks.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915-23 in what many
historians regard as the first genocide of the 20th century, a claim
that Turkey rejects.

Catena, based in Sudan's Nuba Mountains, "is a role model to us all,"
said American actor George Clooney, co-chairman of the prize selection
committee and a prominent advocate of recognizing the killings as
genocide.

The prize includes $100,000 for Catena and $1 million for him to
donate to organizations of his choice.

<span class="sewcqk7vkgct1nh"><br></span>