OSLO, Norway, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency and its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, have been awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.
Known as the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA and ElBaradei was honored for "their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in an announcement Friday from Oslo.
ElBaradei, 63, from Egypt, and the IAEA will split the prize equally, the Nobel committee said. The Nobel Peace Prize will be formally presented Dec. 10. It carries a cash award of about $1.3 million.
It is the sixth-time the United Nations or one of its affiliate organizations has won the Peace Prize. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the overall organization shared the 2001 prize, the U.N. peacekeeping force was honored in 1988, the U.N. Children's Fund in 1965 and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in 1981 and 1954.
