The Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos , has won the Nobel peace prize for his work on a peace deal that was voted down in a referendum this week.
Santos and the leader of the Farc rebel group, Rodrigo Londoño, known as Timochenko, were both considered leading contenders for the prize after signing the peace deal last month to end 52 years of war.
But their chances seemed to have been dealt a fatal blow by the referendum last Sunday in which a narrow majority of 50.2% to 49.8% – a difference of fewer than 54,000 votes out of almost 13m cast – rejected the plan.
The Norwegian Nobel committee said it hoped the prize would encourage all parties to continue working towards peace.
“There is a real danger that the peace process will come to a halt and that civil war will flare up again. This makes it even more important that the parties, headed by President Santos and Farc guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, continue to respect the ceasefire,” said the committee chairwoman, Kaci Kullmann Five.
“The fact that a majority of the voters said no to the peace accord does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead. The referendum was not a vote for or against peace.
“What the no side rejected was not the desire for peace, but a specific peace agreement. The committee emphasises the importance of the fact that President Santos is now inviting all parties to participate in a broad-based national dialogue aimed at advancing the peace process.”
Santos said on Friday: “Early this morning my son Martin woke me with the news to tell me about the decision of the Norwegian Committee to grant me the Nobel peace prize .
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