Nobel Peace prizes for serving world leaders
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to serving heads of state or government several times since the honour was first handed out in 1901. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos receives it Saturday for his "resolute" efforts to end five decades of war in his country, as enshrined in a historic peace accord signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Here are the precedents for Santos' honour:
- 2011: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -
She was one of three women laureates along with Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The committee highlighted "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".
- 2009: Barack Obama -
He was a surprise winner for his "extraordinary" diplomatic efforts on the international stage, just nine months after he took office.
The Nobel committee attached "special importance to Obama's vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons" and said he had created "a new climate in international politics".
- 2000: Kim Dae Jung -
He was a pro-democracy campaigner who became president of South Korea between 1998 and 2003. He won the prize in 2000, the year he helped organise a landmark reconciliation summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Kim Dae-Jung died in 2006.
- 1994: Yitzhak Rabin -
Rabin, Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat jointly won the prize for their efforts to reach a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, resulting in the Oslo Agreement in 1993. At the time Rabin was prime minister and Peres foreign minister of Israel, while Arafat was later elected president of the Palestinian National Authority.
Their goal still eludes world leaders today however.