Nobel Peace Prize Awarded To Former Finnish President Martii Ahtisaari

The prestigious Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari for his work negotiating peaceful solutions to conflicts from Namibia to Kosovo.

OLSO,NORWAY(RUSHPRNEWS)10/10/2008--The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Mr. Ahtisaari's efforts over more than 30 years have contributed to a more peaceful world. The committee says the 71-year-old played a "significant part in the establishment of Namibia's independence" in 1990. Mr. Ahtisaari told a Norwegian broadcaster today that he considered his efforts in the southern African nation his most important work.

More recently, he crafted a plan for Kosovo to be granted internationally supervised independence - a plan now being implemented.

He and an organization he founded the Crisis Management Initiative have also worked to facilitate peace in Iraq, Indonesia and Northern Ireland.

The Nobel Committee said it hopes others may be inspired by his efforts and achievements.

Mr. Ahtisaari will receive his medal and more than one million dollars at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10. The date marks the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who instituted the prize.

Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations panel on climate change for their work alerting the world to the threat of global warming.

by Voice of American -Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.