  We report the first observation of CP-violating asymmetries in B0 --> pi+pi-
decays based on a 140 fb-1 data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance
with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We
reconstruct one neutral B meson as a B0 --> pi+pi- CP eigenstate and identify
the flavor of the accompanying B meson from its decay products. We apply an
unbinned maximum likelihood fit to the distribution of the time intervals
between the two B meson decay points. The fit yields the CP-violating asymmetry
amplitudes Apipi = +0.58+/-0.15(stat)+/-0.07(syst) and Spipi =
-1.00+/-0.21(stat)+/-0.07(syst). We rule out the CP-conserving case,
Apipi=Spipi=0, at a level of 5.2 standard deviations. We also find evidence for
direct CP violation with a significance at or greater than 3.2 standard
deviations for any Spipi value.
