Global troubleshooter Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP)

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who has spent 30 years helping end conflicts in troublespots ranging from Kosovo to Namibia and Indonesia.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee hailed the 71-year-old Ahtisaari "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."

Ahtisaari, who has figured among the frontrunners for the prize for years, said he had not been expecting to win the 2008 award. "But definitely I was hoping, because this is the highest recognition that a person in my profession can have," he told reporters just hours after the announcement.