Live: Obama awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2009

Sky News Intl ---
October 09 2009 ---
11:08 CET
----
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

The first African American to hold the country's highest office, Obama has called for disarmament and worked to restart the stalled Middle East peace process since taking office in January.

The committee said: "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

"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."

The committee said it attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

The prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns (£900,000), will be handed over in Oslo on December 10.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• obama
• barack
• nobel
• world-peace
• oslo