Liberian president jointly wins Nobel peace prize

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and two others on Friday jointly won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their work on women's rights.

President Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen were honored for their non- violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.

"I received the news through my special assistant and it is indeed an honor. I am accepting it on behalf of the Liberian people. Each of them has contributed to this peace," the Liberian leader said in a brief statement issued in Monrovia.

Minister of Information Cletus Sieh said all Liberians are happy that the president has won this.

The minister said the president has won not because she has been a successful leader, but because of her work for women in Liberia.

The Liberian Supreme Court had on Wednesday gave the incumbent president and five other candidates the green light to contest the presidential election next Tuesday.

The Supreme Court made the decision when it ruled in the controversial 10-year durational residency clause requirement for a Liberian citizen to run for the office of president.

The 10-year residency clause had been an issue of contention, and about few weeks ago the opposition Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) sought to prohibit a number of presidential candidates including incumbent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf from contesting the next Tuesday's presidential election.

Liberians are scheduled to go to the polls Tuesday, Oct. 11, to elect a president and 88 legislators. This would be the second national elections in post-war Liberia following the 2005 elections in which Madam Johnson-Sirleaf won.

About 2.5 million ballot papers have been printed for the presidential election while 5 million were printed for the legislative elections.

There are about 1.7 million registered voters in Liberia with about 3.5 million people.