What well-established principles. And why not we hand this task to the officials at Pakistan's foreign office who may pick a military general (serving off course) for the coveted prize. Has any one noticed that not a single senior bureaucrat from Pakistan's foreign service has ever refused to serve a military dictator.
Pakistanis are not alone in their critique. The other global vanguard of human rights, Saudi Arabia, is also up in swords against the decision. However, the Saudi writer has a reasonable argument. He observes: "A look at the list of persons so far honored with the Peace Prize would give the impression that, at times, the committee works as the extension of the US State Department."
Pakistan on Friday questioned the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, a convicted Chinese criminal.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that it was "surprised and deeply perturbed" to learn about the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Nation newspaper reported.
"This decision runs contrary to the established principles for awarding the Prize and, therefore, (distracts) from the prestige associated with this award," the paper quoted the ministry as saying.
"Liu Xiaobo had been sentenced by the Chinese judicial system and has done nothing that could possibly qualify him for the Peace Prize," the ministry said.
The politicization of the Peace Prize, for the purposes of interference in others' domestic affairs, is not only contrary to the principles of inter-nation conduct, but also a negation of the underlying spirit conceived by Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prizes, the ministry added.
A political commentator of Russia's RIA Novosti News Agency said in an article that the Nobel Peace Prize has always been extremely politicized, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"In the past few decades, the committee's sympathies have been with the US-NATO-Western Europe camp," the agency quoted Nikolai Troitsky as saying.
"To prove this, look at the last three Nobel Peace Prize laureates before Liu," the commentator said, referring to US President Barack Obama, Finnish former president Martti Ahtisaari and former US vice president Al Gore.
The Saudi-based Arab News published an article Sunday that expressed explicit opposition to the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, saying it goes against the wishes of Nobel.
"Whatever Liu may be doing, he is not promoting peace," said Muhammad Ismail, the article's writer. "A look at the list of persons so far honored with the Peace Prize would give the impression that, at times, the committee works as the extension of the US State Department."
Nobel Peace Prize politicized: Pakistan - GlobalTimes
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