This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly¹ to three women - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen.

今年的诺贝尔和平奖被授予三位女士——利比里亚总统爱伦·约翰森·希尔丽夫、利比里亚人莱马·博韦和也门人塔瓦库勒·卡曼。

The women had led the non-violent struggle for women's political rights, said the committee
They were recognised for their "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation² in peace-building work".

Mrs Sirleaf is Africa's first female elected head of state, Ms Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist³ and Ms Karman is a leading figure in Yemen's pro-democracy movement.

"We cannot achieve democracy and lasting⁴ peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," said Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland in Oslo.

Reading from the prize citation⁵（引用） , he said the committee hoped the prize would "help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realise the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent".

German Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel - deemed by Forbes the world's most powerful woman - called the award a "wise decision".

But Mrs Sirleaf's main rival in polls this coming Tuesday, Winston Tubman, told the BBC she did not deserve the prize and was a "warmonger⁷（好战者） ".

Arab Spring

Mrs Karman heard of her win from protest camp Change Square in the capital Sanaa, where she has been living for several months calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down.

She was recognised for playing a leading part in the struggle for women's rights in Yemen's pro-democracy protests "in the most trying circumstances" and is the first Arab woman to win the prize.

As the head of Yemeni organisation⁸ Women Journalists without Chains, Mrs Karman has been jailed several times.

Mrs Karman told BBC Arabic she was dedicating it to "all the martyrs⁹（烈士） and wounded of the Arab Spring" - the wave of unrest which has swept the Middle East and North Africa in the past year - and to "all the free people who are fighting for their rights".

Mr Jagland said the oppression of women was "the most important issue" in the Arab world and that awarding the prize to Ms Karman was "giving the signal that if it [the Arab Spring] is to succeed with efforts to make democracy, it has to include women".