US President Barack Obama has sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize, just nine months into his term, with the jury hailing his ''extraordinary'' efforts in international diplomacy and to hasten nuclear disarmament.
Mr Obama said he was ''humbled'' by the distinction but some questioned how the award could be given so quickly.
''The Nobel committee has in particular looked at Obama's vision and work towards a world without atomic weapons,'' said Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the five-member committee. ''Obama has, as President, created a new climate in international politics".
''Multilateral diplomacy is again central, with emphasis on the role the United Nations and other international institutions should play,'' Mr Jagland said. ''Dialogue and negotiations are the preferred method to solve even the most difficult international conflicts.''
The committee said it wanted to enhance Mr Obama's diplomatic efforts. "Many other people and leaders and nations have to respond in a positive way to President Obama's diplomacy.''
Mr Obama, 48, was elected last year on a platform of extracting the US from the Iraq war while increasing focus on an eight-year conflict in Afghanistan.
But while some applauded the decision, others said it was premature. ''Obama? So fast? Too fast - he hasn't had the time to do anything yet,'' was the response of Poland's anti-communist leader and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa.
''For the time being Obama's just making proposals.''
Sydney Peace Foundation director Professor Stuart Rees, who was shocked by the decision, said the President had much work to do if he was to live up to the award. ''We've all got our fingers crossed [Obama] can wave his magic wand and make these things happen. Perhaps the Nobel organisation wants to give him a magic wand,'' Professor Rees said.
The Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown praised Mr Obama's moves to rid the world of nuclear weapons but said he was ''surprised'' to learn of the award. ''His actions certainly merit a very big accolade,'' he said.
Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who has often been tipped for the prestigious prize for her fight on behalf of the Chinese minority group, offered congratulations to Mr Obama.
''I am very happy that he got it. Now he has to do something with the award. It raises expectations on him to stand up for oppressed nations,'' she said.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said he hoped the award would encourage people hoping to build a safer world. And the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said he was ''absolutely delighted'' by the news. ''In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself.''
Iranian President Mohammed Ahmadinejad said the award should prompt Mr Obama to start working towards ending injustice.
The Taliban condemned the decision, saying Mr Obama had ''not taken a single step for peace in Afghanistan or to make this country stable''.
Mr Obama is the third sitting US president to be awarded the prize, following Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.
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