Nobel Peace Prize Winners, Among Others, to Gather in Petra in May
 
AMMAN – It was announced on Thursday that many of the world`s greatest thinkers will gather in the ancient city of Petra in May for a conference of Nobel laureates.
Between 35 and 40 Nobel winners for chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, peace, physics and physiology will be invited to address the world`s most pressing issues May 18-19, just ahead of the World Economic Forum summit in Jordan.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel said in a statement that the meeting will provide the “era`s most prestigious thinkers” with a “private, collegial setting to work on urgent issues and forge a new consensus on solutions.”
The conference is expected to be held by the King Abdullah Development Fund in cooperation with the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
“We are bringing together the best that humanity has,” said Wiesel, who co-sponsored a similar conference of Nobel laureates in Paris in 1988, along with then-French President Francois Mitterrand.
Wiesel, a writer who established his organization after he won the prize in 1989, noted that more than 30 laureates had already signed on for the Petra conference, but he declined to reveal names.
“This gathering is needed,” he said in promotional materials for the conference released Thursday.
The foundation focuses on defending human rights and peace in the world. It also calls for enhancing humanitarian interests and exchanging ideas and opinions among researchers, artists, politicians and human rights activists.