Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet wins Nobel Peace Prize ‎

Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its  role in preventing the country from descending into civil war and putting it on the path toward democracy following the Arab Spring.   The quartet is made up of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.  Formed in the summer of 2013, it helped support the democratization process in Tunisia when it was in danger of collapsing, said the Norwegian Nobel Committee.  "It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war," said Kaci Kullman Five, head of the committee.  "More than anything,” she said, “the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the Committee hopes will serve as an example to be followed by other countries."  The Nobel Peace Prize, worth $972,000, will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10. 

The United Nations has welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize saying it is a boost to activists driving peace efforts.  Ahmad Fawzi, chief U.N. spokesman in Geneva, told a news briefing: "We need civilian society to help us move peace processes forward.  "This a brilliant example, I think Tunisia is one of the  Arab countries that has done best since the so-called Arab Spring and the upheavals in that part of the world."