Tunisian national dialogue mediators win Nobel Peace Prize

Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its contribution to building democracy after the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, the Nobel Committee said.

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 democratisation process in Tunisia when it was in danger of collapsing, said the 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, 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 8 million Swedish crowns ($972,000), will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.

The EU hailed Tunisia's national dialogue mediators, saying they had shown the troubled North Africa and Middle East a democratic path out of its turmoil.

"The Nobel Peace Prize to the National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia shows the way out of the crises in the region: national unity and democracy," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini tweeted.