Finland's Martti Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize

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The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Ahtisaari for important efforts over more than three decades to resolve international conflicts.

"These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel's spirit," the committee said in announcing the prize.

By selecting Ahtisaari, 71, for the prize, the Nobel committee returned its focus to traditional peace work after tapping climate campaigner Al Gore and the U.N. panel on climate change last year.

"He is a world champion when it comes to peace and he never gives up," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel awards committee.

The award, he said, was in line with recent Nobels to other peace mediators, notably Jimmy Carter in 2002 and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001.

Ahtisaari told AP Television News that while winning the prize would help his future mediation work, he is looking to other challenges, too, particularly youth unemployment worldwide.

But he also conceded that the decades of work have taken a toll.

"I have to start realizing that I am 71" and maybe it's time to stop "traveling 200 days a year outside Finland."

The secretive five-member committee said Ahtisaari's work across the world Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East proved that such efforts can have a profound effect on peace processes.

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