Nobel peace prize win for Finland's Ahtisaari
Shock Nobel peace prize win for Finland's Martti Ahtisaari
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Friday, 10, Oct 2008 04:21
Peace negotiator Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, has been awarded the Nobel peace prize.
A statement from the Norwegian Nobel committee said Mr Athisaari was to become Finland's first-ever winner of the prize for his "important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".
"These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel’s spirit," the committee said.
Mr Athisaari, 71, is a career diplomat who was president of Finland between 1994 and 2000.
Although he has been tipped to win the prestigious honour on several previous occasions, today's decision comes as a surprise.
The committee had been widely-tipped to award the prize to a Chinese dissident after the international community was left frustrated by unfulfilled human rights promises from Beijing in the year it hosted the Olympics, the likelihood of the prize going to China is increased further.
The Chinese authorities had already warned that it should go to the "right person".
Human rights campaigner Hu Jia, sentenced to three and a half years in jail earlier this year, had been tipped to win.
Mr Hu spent several years under house arrest prior to being jailed after pushing for rights for HIV/Aids patients and publishing the details of human rights abuses in China.
China's foreign ministry said awarding the prize to Mr Hu would have been "against the purpose of such a prize".
"Everyone knows what kind of person Hu Jia is," spokesman Qin Gang said.
"He committed the crime of subverting the state and has been convicted."
The prize, bequeathed by Swedish innovator Alfred Nobel, is awarded to the person who has "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
The committee said Mr Ahtisaari had always worked for peace and reconciliation.
It praised his role in establishing Namibian independence in 1990 and his mediation in Aceh, Indonesia, in 2005.
Mr Ahtisaari is also a central figure in the recent history of Kosovo, first in 1999 and 2005-07, while he also made lasting contributions in Iraq, Northern Ireland, central Asia and the Horn of Africa.
"Today [Mr] Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator," the committee said.
"Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts.
"The Norwegian Nobel committee wishes to express the hope that others may be inspired by his efforts and his achievements."
There is no shortlist for the prize, won last year by Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with the winner a closely-guarded secret until their name is announced.