Obama set for Oslo Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
US President Barack Obama is due to collect his Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Norway’s capital, Oslo.
The prize was awarded to Mr Obama in October for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.
There was a mixed reaction when Mr Obama was named as the winner of the prize for 2009.
Many said it was inappropriate that it could go to the commander-in-chief of a country involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama understands and again will also recognize that he doesn’t belong in the same discussion as Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, previous Nobel Peace Prize winners.
A senior official told Reuters news agency Mr Obama sees the peace prize as having a long history of identifying the accomplishments of people who have worked to extend peace in various ways.
Barak Obama believes that part of the reason he won this award was not simply about him, it’s the fact that there’s a hunger around the world for constructive American leadership and this is an affirmation of that,” said the unnamed official.
Security is high in Oslo for the event and anti-war protesters have gathered outside the hotel where the ceremony will take place.
The Nobel Prizes for chemistry, literature, medicine, physics and economics will also be presented, with each laureate receiving a diploma, a medal and 10m Krona ($1.4m:£865,000), which is shared by joint winners.
Coinciding with the Nobel ceremony, Indonesia is to unveil a statue of Mr Obama as a young boy.
It will stand in a park in the capital, Jakarta, close to where the president lived between 1967 and 1971 and depicts him as 10 year old wearing shorts and with a butterfly on his finger.
Central Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni said the statue was intended to inspire Indonesian children.
