IAEA, ElBaradei to receive Nobel Peace Prize
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-10 16:04

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei will receive this year's Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital of Olso on Saturday.

The UN nuclear watchdog and the 63-year-old ElBaradei were being honored for "their efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to ensure the safe civilian use of nuclear energy," according to the Nobel committee.

ElBaradei said winning the prestigious prize has boosted the IAEA's visibility, authority and credibility worldwide.

"It's helped a lot in these times, and I hope the prize will help us in the months to come," he said when arriving in Oslo Thursday.

The IAEA and ElBaradei will receive the prize which includes 1.3 million U.S. dollars, a gold medal and a diploma at a formal ceremony in Oslo's City Hall on Saturday, anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel.

ElBaradei is the second Egyptian winner of the peace prize after former president Anwar Sadat in 1978. The 2004 prize also went to an African, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai.

Later in the day, the winners of the Literature, Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Economics prizes will receive their awards in Stockholm's Concert Hall.