VOA标准英语10月-Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari Wins No

（单词翻译）

Martii Ahtisaari

Norway's Nobel committee praised Martti Ahtisaari for his efforts to help secure peace in a number of conflict torn countries during his lengthy² career as U.N. diplomat³, Finnish president and later, peace activist⁴ with his organization, the Crisis Management Initiative.

Over the past 20 years, the Nobel statement said, Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving serious and long-lasting conflicts in Namibia, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq - among other areas.

In an interview on Norwegian television, Ahtisaari cited peace talks in 1989-1990 in the southwestern African nation of Namibia as his greatest achievement. Those talks helped pave the way for Namibia's independence from south Africa.

Ahtisaari began his career as a school teacher before joining Finland's foreign ministry⁵. He served as a United Nations undersecretary and secretary of state for the Finnish foreign ministry before being elected president of Finland in 1994.

Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative in 2000. The Helsinki-based non-profit organization provides solutions for ending conflicts around the world.

Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore⁶ won last year's Nobel peace prize along with the U.N. panel on climate change for their work on raising attention to the threat of global warming.