Former President of Finland and peace negotiator Martti Ahtisaari is the 2008 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, a well-deserved recognition that came three years late. He was not particularly surprised at receiving the award, reported the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter (DN). Ahtisaari's effort to broker a peace negotiation in Aceh province in Indonesia, shortly after the tsunami catastrophe has successfully brought peace in that beleaguered region.
He said: " I have received the prize for my life's work. This is the biggest recognition one can get in my area of work", he was quoted as saying. He received the news en route to a meeting with current Finland President Tarja Halonen. "The prize has come at an important moment. This morning I learned that Montenegro and Macedonia have recognized Kosovo's independence. Now I hope that others will follow their example", he said.
The Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee's choice of Ahtisaari was motivated by his "significant efforts in the resolution of international conflicts in several continents over the last three-year period." The Committee believes that Ahtisaari with his work in crisis management has contributed to a more peaceful world and brotherhood between nations in the spirit of Alfred Nobel's will.
Earlier in the week Ahtisaari was also awarded UNESCO's recognition for his life work on peace promotion. Experts predicted that his getting the Nobel Peace Prize was not far behind.
There have been criticisms for some of the earlier Nobel Peace Prize awards because they were not given to those for whom the recognition was intended for. Sometimes the motivation was politically-oriented in an effort to influence a particular development instead of rewarding an actual achievement, as was the case of 1966 prize to Carlos Bela and Jose Ramos-Horta from East Timor, wrote DN. Others were even controversial like Henry Kissinger, or the unknown Rigoberta Menchu Tum. And there were those that should have received the peace award but never got to Oslo, like the International Tribunal for War Criminals, added DN.
This year's Nobel Prize winner appears to have satisfied Alfred Nobel's intention that one who succeeds in bringing tangible peace in any part of the world, must be justly compensated. It is the traditional spirit of the Nobel Peace Prize.#
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