September 27, 2007 15:36

Bono awarded Liberty Medal

Singer joins ranks with the likes of Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton

Photo Gallery: U2

U2 frontman Bono has been awarded the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia.

The award is given annually and recognises leadership in the pursuit of freedom.

Past awardees include Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan.

Bono is the first non-politician to receive the award in 18 years, and bagged the honour for his continual campaigning to get governments to cancel third-world debt.

After being awarded with the medal, Bono paid tribute to the US, saying: "In the American body politic there's no poetry like the poetry of the Declaration Of Independence and the Constitution.

"What I love about America started in Philadelphia," he continued. "It's the expression of those values that the world needs to see. The America that liberated Omaha Beach, that rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. That put a man on the moon."