Oslo, October 10: In a decision that raised eyebrows around the world, US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 9, less than nine months into his first term.
“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the Nobel Committee said in a statement cited.
The committee said Obama won the prize for his efforts to bolster international diplomacy and cooperation among peoples and promote nuclear disarmament.
“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”
Obama took office in January from Republican President George W. Bush, whose eight-year term saw the invasion of two Muslim countries; Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since then, he pursued a policy of engagement to improve America’s relations with the world countries.
In a landmark speech to the Muslim world from Egypt in June, Obama promised a new policy of engagement to overcome a decade of mistrust and discord.
Obama, America’s first black president, has also called for removing nuclear weapons from around the world.
“We hope this can contribute a little bit to enhance what he is trying to do,” Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told a press conference.
Asked why the prize had been awarded to Obama less than a year in his post, Jagland said: “It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve”.
“It is a clear signal that we want to advocate the same as he has done.”
Welcome
Obama’s Nobel win drew welcome from world countries.
“This award is an encouragement for engagement by all those who can contribute to bring about a safer world,” said European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
“It is also a recognition of the expectations created everywhere by President Obama’s determination to work closely with the United States’ partners to shape global responses to the global challenges we face today.”
The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei also praised Obama’s Nobel win.
“In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself,” the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
“I cannot think of anyone today more deserving of this honour,” added ElBaradei, who himself won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 with the IAEA.
The Arab League also gave tribute to Obama’s efforts to achieve peace around the world.
“This is an expression that the world is convinced of what (Obama) talked about in his speeches, whether about nuclear disarmament or his intention to find immediate solutions to the world’s problems including the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Arab League chief Amr Mussa told.
“We hope this prize will help intensify efforts to reach peace in the Middle East and contain negative efforts opposed to peace,” he said.
Obama’s efforts to kickstart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians hit a dead end over Israel’s refusal to halt settlement building in the occupied lands.
“We hope that this gives him the incentive to walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order,” Iranian presidential aide Ali Akbar Javanfekr said.
“We are not upset and we hope that by receiving this prize he will start taking practical steps to remove injustice in the world.”
Why?
But Obama’s Peace Prize raised many eyebrows around the world.
“Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast?,” Poland’s anti-communist leader Lech Walesa asked.
“He (Obama) hasn’t had the time to do anything yet,” added the 1983 Nobel Peace winner.
“For the time being Obama’s just making proposals. But sometimes the Nobel committee awards the prize to encourage responsible action.”
Issam al-Khazraji, a day labourer in Baghdad, was surprised with Obama’s Nobel win.
“He doesn’t deserve this prize. All these problems Iraq, Afghanistan have not been solved,” he said.
“..The man of ‘change’ hasn’t changed anything yet,” he said, referring to Obama’s election campaign name.
Liaqat Baluch, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious party in Pakistan, called the award an embarrassing “joke”.
-Agencies