Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize

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Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize
« Thread Started on Dec 10, 2008, 8:04am »

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Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize
Posted: 07:58 AM ET
OSLO, Norway (CNN) — Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari accepted
the Nobel Peace Prize Wednesday for his efforts to resolve conflicts from
Kosovo to Indonesia and Namibia.

“Wars and conflicts are not inevitable,” he said in his acceptance
speech, arguing that they are caused by people who have something to gain from
them. “All conflicts can be settled.”

Ahtisaari was modest about the role of mediators in ending conflicts,
saying only the parties themselves could end bloodshed.

He said his own experience as a child, when his hometown in Finland
became part of the Soviet Union under a “spheres-of-influence” agreement
between Hitler and Stalin, had influenced his determination to work towards
peace.

“We became refugees in our own country,” he said of the events that took
place when he was two years old.

Ole Danbolt Mjos, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, praised
Ahtisaari for brokering an end to the long conflict between Indonesia and
separatists in Aceh, leading to extensive autonomy for the region.

Ahtisaari and his organization Crisis Management Initiative “saw
opportunities where others only saw conflict,” Mjos said.