Mixed reaction to Obama's winning Nobel Peace Prize

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The decision to award Obama the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn both warm praise and sharp criticism from around the world.

Some say giving the prize to Obama is premature and undeserved as he has failed to make progress for peace in Afghanistan and the Middle East. But many world leaders suggest the decision breaks with tradition and recognizes hopeful promise rather than any concrete achievement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, "President Obama embodies the new spirit of dialogue and engagement on the world's biggest problems - climate change, nuclear disarmament and a wide range of peace and security challenges."

Mohamed Elbaradei, Director General, IAEA, said, "In less than a year, he galvanised the world. For the first time, everybody has hope that we might be able to establish a world at peace with itself, that we might be able to have a system of security that is not based on nuclear weapons. "

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said, "What wonderful recognition of someone who has already made such an impact on our planet with regards to the Muslim world, nuclear disarmament, climate change and, to some extent, the Middle East."