The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending 20-year conflict with Eritrea, reports the Telegraph. He beat teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, native Brazilian leader Raoni Metuktire and the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who were tipped as potential winners.
Shortlists are not published, but all three were understood to be in the running. Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored relations in July 2018 after years of hostility. The prize, worth nine million Swedish crowns, or around $900,000, will be presented in Oslo on Dec 10.
"Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.