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OSLO: US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, in a shock decision meant to boost his ambitious global agenda of cutting nuclear stocks and forging a transformative era of engagement.
A visibly surprised Obama, 48, said he did not feel fit to join the honour roll of revered Nobel peace laureates, but vowed to use the prize as a "call to action" to lead the world in confronting its deepest challenges.
As shockwaves from the Nobel committee in Oslo raced around the world, many saw the award as a final swipe at ex-president George W. Bush, but critics complained Obama had few big achievements to justify such an illustrious prize.
Gasps greeted the announcement at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, where the jury hailed Obama's "extraordinary" efforts in international diplomacy and hastening nuclear disarmament.
"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 jury said.
As criticism of the jury's unanimous decision swelled, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland denied the award was premature and said it recognized great deeds to come, as well as Obama's record so far.
"We want to emphasise that he has already brought significant changes," Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the Nobel Committee, told AFP.
"We do of course hope that there will be many concrete changes over the years but... we felt it was right to strengthen him as much as we can in his further struggle for his ideals."
Obama, elected the first black US president last November said he was "surprised" and "humbled" by the honor, which may increase already intense pressure for him to reap swift foreign policy victories.
Viewing the prize not as a personal reward but an affirmation of American "leadership", Obama said he would use the prize as a catalyst for action on issues like climate change, nuclear proliferation and global conflicts.
"I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement – it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes."
"And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action – a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century," Obama said.
Since taking office in January, Obama has initiated an engagement strategy with US nuclear foes like Iran and North Korea, thrown himself into the Middle East peace process and vowed to join the global fight against global warming.
The president was woken in the White House at 6:00am with the news from Oslo, by his press secretary Robert Gibbs, who said Obama would accept the prize in person. The Nobel committee has set a date of December 10 for the award ceremony.
Obama will donate the 1.4 million dollar award cheque to charity, the White House said.
Though a great honour, the Nobel prize may provide a political headache for Obama, further raising tough-to-meet expectations for his presidency abroad, and fuelling claims by domestic critics that he suffers from dangerous hubris.
"The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?'" said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee.
"It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights." Obama's other Republican tormentors remained silent however.
Leaders of US allies were quick to laud the young US president, though praise was not universal.
Poland's anti-communist leader Lech Walesa, who won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, said Obama's elevation came too early.
"Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast – he hasn't had the time to do anything yet," Walesa told reporters in Warsaw.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, said the award should be an "incentive to the president and to us all" to do more for peace.
The United Nations said Obama should commit to an international treaty on global warming, and the head of the Arab League, Amr Mussa, said he hoped for intensified efforts for Middle East peace.
A spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran hoped it would give Obama "the incentive to walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order".
In Afghanistan, the Taliban condemned the prize, saying, "he has done nothing for peace in Afghanistan".
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Obama had "inspired so many people" around the world.
Obama is the third sitting US president to win the award, after Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.
The Nobel committee hailed Obama's "extraordinary" efforts in restoring US diplomatic engagement and seeking to speed nuclear disarmament.
"The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations."
"Thanks to Obama's initiative, the US is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic changes the world is confronting."
- AFP/ls/so
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