HIROSHIMA, Nov 1: Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams said on Wednesday that Christians should `hang our heads in shame’ over the deaths of children from hunger. At a symposium of Nobel laureates in Hiroshima, Japan, scene of the world's first nuclear attack, Ms Williams launched a scathing attack on US and British government priorities, denouncing civilian deaths in Iraq.

“Upwards of 40,000 children die every day from hunger. In a world that can feed itself and chooses to grow weapons instead of food, we so-called Christians should all hang our heads in shame for allowing this to happen,” she said.

Williams was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for bringing together Roman Catholic and Protestant civilians to call for a peaceful solution in strife-torn Northern Ireland.

Belfast-born Williams, who now focuses on promoting children's rights, said the young were too often forgotten victims, pointing to the world's reaction to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

“Over 3,000 people were murdered on Sept 11 and yet on that very same day 35,615 children died from conditions of starvation in our world and nobody said a word,” she said.

She called the invasion of in Iraq a disaster for children, saying: “Reading accounts of the US invasion I am struck by the constant casual reference to civilian deaths.” —Reuters