Reaction to Obama winning Nobel Peace Prize
Barack Obama has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Also In The News
|
Barack Obama’s deadline for the closure of Guantanamo Bay will prove "difficult", the US attorney general has admitted. |  |
Friday, 09, Oct 2009 04:48
By Richard James.
Reaction from around the world has already started flowing in following the decision to award Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.
Former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev: "I am happy. What Obama has done during his presidency is a big signal, he gave a hope. In these hard times people who are capable of taking responsibility, who have a vision, commitment and political will should be supported."
Nelson Mandela Foundation: "We trust that this award will strengthen his commitment, as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, to continue promoting peace and the eradication of poverty."
Downing Street told inthenews.co.uk Gordon Brown had sent a private letter of congratulations to Mr Obama this morning.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said the award represented "America's return to world favour".
Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai claimed Mr Obama was the "appropriate" person to win.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament welcomed the news but warned the US president now had to live up to the ideals enshrined in the prize, both on nuclear issues and conventional wars.
Kate Hudson, chair of the campaign group, said "It is excellent that the prize committee have recognised the central importance of work aimed at reducing the nuclear threat we all face.
"Now President Obama must live up to the ideals of the Nobel Prize and follow through with concrete disarmament steps. There are many hopeful signs that the US and Russia will agree significant cut-backs, but as we approach the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in May it is vital that all nuclear-armed states are brought into the process and that a timetable for abolition is agreed.
"Obama needs to decide whether he really will be a peace-maker when it comes to Afghanistan and Iran. The unwinnable war in Afghanistan is spreading hatred and instability throughout the region, with a terrible blood price being paid not only by Western forces, but primarily by Afghan civilians. Now is the time to bring it to an end - certainly not to increase troop levels. On Iran, Obama must be a real friend of peace - clearly outlining that any solution will be diplomatic and not military."
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "I warmly congratulate President Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. President Obama has made extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.
"He has also demonstrated his strong commitment to help build peace and defend fundamental human rights, including through the Atlantic alliance. This honour is well deserved."
Ali Akabr Javanfekr, aide to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "We hope that this gives him the incentive to walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order.
"We are not upset and we hope that by receiving this prize he will start taking practical steps to remove injustice in the world."
Former US vice president and 2007 peace prize winner Al Gore wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter simply: "Congratulations @BarackObama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize."