Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize,feels ‘humbled’ by the honour

A 'humbled' US President Barack Obama accepted the coveted Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition of the goals he has set for the United States and the world,including elimination of nuclear stockpiles.

A “humbled” US President Barack Obama on Friday accepted the coveted Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition of the goals he has set for the United States and the world,including elimination of nuclear stockpiles.

In his reaction to the announcement by the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee,he said: “To be honest,I do not feel I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honoured by this prize”.

“I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel committee,” he said in a brief speech made from the White House Rose Garden.

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Obama said he did not view the prize as a recognition of his own accomplishments,rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

He said the Peace Prize must be “shared by everyone who strives for justice and dignity,” and said he accepted it as a “call to action” for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century.

He said: “Some challenges confronting us… like elimination of nuclear weapons,may not be completed during my lifetime but I know these can be met so long as it is recognised that they would not be met by one person or one nation alone”.

Noting that the award puts him in the company of men and women who have inspired him and the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,Obama said the prize not only honours specific achievement but also gives momentum to a set of causes.

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Obama,who became the fourth US President to be honoured with the Nobel Prize,said the challenges confronting the world cannot be met by any one leader or any one nation.

“… that’s why my administration’s worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek,” Obama said.

The 48-year-old President,who has been awarded for his “extraordinary efforts” to strengthen international diplomacy acknowledged that as the American President he had a responsibility to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I am the Commander-in-Chief of a country that is responsible for ending a war and working in another theatre to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies,” he said.

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Expressing his commitment to a nuclear weapons free world,Obama said the international community cannot tolerate a world in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people.

“That’s why we’ve begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons: because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power… but also all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions,” he said.