Anti-nuclear campaigners awarded Nobel Peace Prize

THE Nobel Peace Prize was yesterday awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican).

It was given the prestigious award for “its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”, said Berit Reiss-andersen, committee president, in Oslo, the capital of Norway.

The prize comes as global nuclear tensions heighten with North Korea and Iran.

Yesterday, Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the decade-old group, said the prize “sends a message to all nuclear-armed states and all states that continue to rely on nuclear weapons for security that it is unacceptable behaviour”.

She added: “We can’t threaten to indiscriminately slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians in the name of

‘We can’t threaten to ... slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians in the name of security’

security.” Ican was a key player in a historic nuclear weapons ban treaty, signed by 122 countries in July.

However, the accord was largely symbolic as none of the nine known world nuclear powers signed up to it.

Nato greeted the award frostily yesterday, saying that the international community must be aware of the “realities” of 21st century security, and criticised the treaty.

“What we need is verifiable and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which all Nato Allies have signed, remains the cornerstone of international efforts to do so,” it said.

This week, Donald Trump threatened to sever the nuclear deal with Iran, which critics believe could cause further instability in the Middle East.

The deal was struck in 2011 by Iran and the US in order to allow Iran to access nuclear power for electricity and prevent it from building nuclear weapons. It was seen by many as one of Barack Obama’s greatest achievements.

On Thursday, Mr Trump delivered a foreboding message, telling reporters as he posed for photos with his senior military leaders that this might be “the calm before the storm”.

Earlier in the week, Ms Fihn tweeted: “Donald Trump is a moron” but yesterday said she was joking, “which I kind of regret now”.