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Page last updated at 15:54 GMT, Friday, 9 October 2009 16:54 UK

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In pictures: Controversial Nobel winners

Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland holds a picture of Barack Obama in Oslo, 9 October 2009

Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, a decision that caused surprise and some criticism given the early stage of his presidency. But it is not the first time that a Nobel Peace Prize has sparked controversy.

File photo of Yaser Arafat (l), Shimon Peres (c) and Yitzak Rabin (r), 1994

In 1994 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat won the prize jointly with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, as right-wing Israelis staged protests in Oslo.

File photo of Nelson Mandela (l) and Frederick De Klerk, Oslo, 10 December 1993

The previous year, Nelson Mandela shared the award with former South African President FW de Klerk for their role in ending apartheid, although Mr De Klerk also led the party that had instituted the racist policy.

File photo of (left to right) John Hume, Bono, Tim Wheeler and David Trimble, 1998

In 1998 John Hume, left, and David Trimble, right, received the award for their role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, following the Good Friday peace agreement. But radical Unionists called the award a "farce".

File photo of Le Duc Tho (l) and Henry Kissinger (r), 23 January 1973

Perhaps the most controversial laureate of all was former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who won the prize with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam for helping negotiate an end to America's role in the Vietnam War.

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