Nobel Peace Prize to Obama not premature: Committee

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama today, less than nine months after he took office, rejected criticism that the distinction was premature.

"We want to emphasise that he has already brought significant changes," said Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the Nobel Committee, citing progress in multilateralism, disarmament and the fight against climate change as examples of Obama's achievements.

"We do of course hope that there will be many concrete changes over the years but ... we felt it was right to strengthen him as much as we can in his further struggle for his ideals," added the influential secretary.

Poland's anti-communist leader and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa said today he believed the award was given to Obama too soon.

"Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast -- he hasn't had the time to do anything yet," he told reporters in Warsaw. The Wall Street Journal judged the award "completely bizarre," arguing in an editorial that "traditionally it has been standard procedure that winners of the prize do their peacemaking first."

The Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland fended off the criticism at a press conference following the announcement. "If you look at the history of the Peace Prize, we have on many occasions given it to try to enhance what many personalities were trying to do," he said.