Oslo: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced that Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the selection on Friday, giving him the prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."
His name had been mentioned in speculation leading up to the prize for his efforts in Europe and Asia.
Two Chinese nationals had emerged as strong contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Forty-one-year-old lawyer Gao Zhisheng was one of the contenders for the $1.4 mn prize which will be announced on Friday.
Gao was voted one of the ten best lawyers in China in 2001 by the justice ministry.
However, he has been the target of an alleged assassination attempt, was repeatedly kidnapped and is now said to be in police custudy.
The other contender Hu Jia, an environmental and AIDS activist was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system.
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