Three women honored together with Nobel Prize

The Nobel Committee honors women’s right to voice their demand for global peace by honoring three women with annual peace prize. One of the awarded is from Yemen while rest two are Liberians.

Ellen Johnson, Liberia’s first elected and female president along her compatriot  Leymah Gbowee shares the most prestigious award with Arabian activist Tawakul Karman.

The Nobel Committee justified awarding the trio because world can not achieve full democracy and peace until the women also get equal opportunities with men in all spheres, revealed the committee’s chairman Thorbjoern Jagland.

Johnson-Sirleaf, 72  has won election in Liberia for a second term as President. She is called as “Iron Lady” by her opponents. Achieving this award might also reduce her vote potentiality, doubted many diplomats, however, Sirleaf dismissed all doubts.

Awarding Yemeni protesters, who are still fighting to pressurize their autocratic rulers to step down, may also be taken as an indication that Oslo has put its hands away from former ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, the current president of Yemen.

Karman stated that her achievement should be considered as a prize for the victory of Yemeni people and all revolutionaries of the Arab world.

Ouattara’s supporters surround president Gbagbo’s home in Ivory Coast

Anti-government protesters who support Alassane Ouattara surrounded Gbagbo’s house following violent clashes between opposite sides. Ouattara’s supporters attacked over Gbagbo’s bunker, pro-Gbagbo troops forced them to surrender.

French airplanes rushed to save Japan’s envoy to Ivory Coast, who was trapped there due to ongoing clashes in the country.

Alain Juppe, French Foreign Minister stated that Israel called on France to help in evacuate its nationals from Ivory Coast. On Wednesday, Gbagbo ‘s refusal to accept his defeat in the elections and step down from his post agitated Ouattara’s supporters and they surrounded Gbagbo’s house to capture him alive.

The current political crisis in Ivory Coast is a reflux of what has been happening in many countries of the Middle East region. It started in December when President Gbagbo rejected the election results and did not leave the post of President. Most of the Ivoirians today support Ouattara, Gbagbo’s political opponent leader and winner of the recent elections.

There have been tremendous efforts from the global community to convince and pressurize Gbagbo to resign and hand over power to Ouattara but in vain.  Anti-government protesters in Ivory Coast turned into rebellions seizing cities and pushing pro-president security forces back to Abidjan.

There have been numerous deaths due to continuous violent conflicts between the pro-Gbagbo forces and the protesters. Around 1 million Ivorians have been forced to flee away from their homes and out of them 100,000 have taken shelter in Liberia.