🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 16 (from laksa183)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa016.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34277960\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34277960\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960","crawl_time":1774061089,"first_indexed_time":1509066108,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,bbc!www,\/news\/world-europe-34277960 s443","src_root_hash":"1643509356818581016","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Nobel secretary regrets Obama peace prize - BBC News","meta_descriptions":["The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to live up to expectations, the committee's ex-secretary says."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said.\nGeir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama.\nInstead, the decision was met with\ncriticism in the US\n, external\n. Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award.\nMr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself\nhad been surprised\n, external\n.\n\"No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama,\" Mr Lundestad writes.\n\"Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,\" he says. \"In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for\".","attrs_markdown":"[BBC Homepage](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n\n- [Skip to content](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960#main-heading)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/accessibility\/)\n\n- [Sign in](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?lang=en-GB&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-europe-34277960&sequenceId=d910d95e-b19b-42fe-9dcc-0d25721065e8)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Innovation](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/innovation)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n- [More menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960#global-navigation-more-menu)\n\n[More menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960#global-navigation-more-menu)\n\n[Search BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/search?d=NEWS_GNL)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Innovation](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/innovation)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n\nClose menu\n\n[BBC News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n\n[Menu](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960#product-navigation-menu)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Climate](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cmj34zmwm1zt)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world)\n- [UK](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science_and_environment)\n- [Entertainment & Arts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment_and_arts)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health)\n- [In Pictures](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/in_pictures)\n\n[More](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-34277960#product-navigation-more-menu)\n\n- [BBC Verify](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/bbcverify)\n- [Newsbeat](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/newsbeat)\n\n- [World](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world)\n- [Africa](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/africa)\n- [Asia](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/asia)\n- [Australia](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/australia)\n- [Europe](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/europe)\n- [Latin America](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/latin_america)\n- [Middle East](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/middle_east)\n- [US & Canada](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world\/us_and_canada)\n\n# Nobel secretary regrets Obama peace prize\nShare\n\nclose panel\n\nShare page\n\nCopy link\n\n[About sharing](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/usingthebbc\/terms\/can-i-share-things-from-the-bbc)\n\n![Geir Lundestad](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/5B3F\/production\/_85595332_geirlundestad.jpg)\n\nImage source, Getty Images\n\nImage caption,\n\nGeir Lundestad stepped down in 2014 as secretary of the Nobel committee\n\n**Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said.**\n\nGeir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama.\n\nInstead, the decision was met with [criticism in the US, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/world\/americas\/8299697.stm). Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award.\n\nMr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself [had been surprised, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/world\/americas\/8299824.stm).\n\n\"No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama,\" Mr Lundestad writes.\n\n\"Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,\" he says. \"In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for\".\n\n![US President Barack Obama holds his Nobel Peace Prize next to Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, in Oslo - 10 December 2009](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/3961\/production\/_85598641_gettyimages-94465162.jpg)\n\nImage source, AFP\n\nImage caption,\n\nMr Obama was presented the award by committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland\n\nHe also reveals that Mr Obama considered not going to pick up the award in Norway's capital, Oslo.\n\nHis staff enquired whether other winners had skipped the ceremony but found this has happened only on rare occasions, such as when dissidents were held back by their governments.\n\n\"In the White House they quickly realised that they needed to travel to Oslo,\" Mr Lundestad wrote.\n\nMr Lundestad served as the committee's influential, but non-voting, secretary from 1990 to 2015.\n\nHe has broken with the tradition of the secretive committee, whose members rarely discuss proceedings.\n## Other insights\nThe book also gives other insights into the activities of the committee:\n\n- According to Mr Lundestad, Jonas Gahr Store, then Norway's foreign minister, tried in 2010 to dissuade the panel from [awarding the prize to a Chinese dissident](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-11935230), fearing it would strain the country's relationship with Beijing. The Nobel committee ignored the warnings and honoured Liu Xiaobo.\n- Mr Lundestad also criticises Thorbjorn Jagland, who was the committee chairman for six years and is now a regular member. He said that as a former Norwegian prime minister, Mr Jagland should never have been appointed to the committee, which frequently stresses its independence.\n- In an amusing anecdote, Mr Lundestad relates how he found Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who won the award in 1994, watching an episode of the Tom and Jerry cartoon in his hotel with other Palestine Liberation Organisation members. \"It was made very clear that they intended to watch until the end,\" he said.\n\nThis year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 9.\n\n## More on this story\n- [Nobel faces Liu Xiaobo boycotts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-11935230)\n  \n  ![Breaking News](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/466\/mcs\/media\/images\/44536000\/jpg\/_44536487_breaking_splash_466x260.jpg)\n\n## Top stories\n- [UK allows US to use bases to strike Strait of Hormuz targets](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c36rny6xgppo)\n- [Live. Trump says US considering winding down war in Iran but other nations must guard Hormuz](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/ce84073mr06t)\n- [Sarah Ferguson is lying low, but pressure is mounting for her to give evidence on Epstein](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn87j9ry43ro)\n\n## More to explore\n- [Sir Chris Hoy says terminal cancer diagnosis taught him how to live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c78x88gvx13o)\n  \n  ![Sir Chris Hoy, wearing sunglasses and a blue top next to a woman in a dark jacket, also wearing sunglasses](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/a6a2\/live\/1b499b90-23a9-11f1-9a4e-e13728524fa3.jpg)\n- ['I feel so grateful to be alive,' Kent University meningitis survivor says](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/videos\/cp3ld6dq4d1o)\n  \n  ![Annabelle Mackay sitting outside in a white t-shirt and dark sunglasses ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/303f\/live\/5cde23d0-247d-11f1-a79a-77e93010d956.jpg)\n- [One final experiment? Unpicking Tuchel's latest England squad](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/clyrnrgp6k6o)\n  \n  ![Thomas Tuchel](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/b7fa\/live\/64855090-2478-11f1-9ac5-2fb77b4b4b71.jpg)\n- [BBC asks Chuck Norris about being a 'successful, really terrible' actor](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/videos\/c4g5d8579zyo)\n  \n  ![A man on the left wears a suit sitting on a couch facing a man on the right wearing a light brown shirt and light pants.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/6fc7\/live\/75be70d0-2473-11f1-a79a-77e93010d956.jpg)\n- ['You can't smell Nowruz in the air': Iran marks Persian new year under threat of strikes](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvgkg8p7zlko)\n  \n  ![People shop at Tajrish Bazaar in northern Tehran ahead of Nowruz, marking the Persian New Year, and Eid al-Fitr, despite ongoing US-Israeli attacks on Iran, on March 19, 2026. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/a6e4\/live\/fbf43f20-2439-11f1-934f-036468834728.jpg)\n- [Sir John Curtice: Why Labour's Brexit focus has shifted from Leavers to Remainers](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4gjn1d74jlo)\n  \n  ![A montage image of Rejoin voters and Sir John Curtice to the right](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/802e\/live\/0cf142f0-2444-11f1-934f-036468834728.jpg)\n- [BTS Arirang review: K-pop idols rekindle their fire](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c070eg32dryo)\n  \n  ![BTS pose in Times Square in New York](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/6d2b\/live\/414b95e0-23c8-11f1-b050-bdbe6e966f25.jpg)\n- [Inside the world of preppers getting ready for society's collapse](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c33j0rdnry1o)\n  \n  ![Leigh, a man with a ginger beard and grey hair stands in the porch of his workshop wearing a dark green jacket over a black shirt. There is a mannequin wearing a gas mask and green army clothes behind him. Rucksacks hang on the wall. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/4127\/live\/2be846e0-22af-11f1-8a6e-abb477324122.jpg)\n- [News Daily: Our flagship daily newsletter delivered to your inbox first thing](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/newsletters\/zhp28xs)\n  \n  ![A promo promoting the News Daily newsletter - a graphic of an orange sphere with two concentric crescent shapes around it in a red-orange gradient, like a sound wave.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/385\/cpsprodpb\/f6e7\/live\/0a68e090-4b8e-11f0-8c47-237c2e4015f5.png)\n\n## Elsewhere on the BBC\n- [The world's first labradoodle](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sounds\/play\/w3ct4xfz?at_mid=QHxTa7Vio1&at_campaign=Witness_History_The_Worlds_First_Labradoodle&at_medium=display_ad&at_campaign_type=owned&at_nation=NET&at_audience_id=SS&at_product=sounds&at_brand=p004t1hd&at_ptr_name=bbc&at_ptr_type=media&at_format=image&at_objective=consumption&at_link_title=Witness_History_The_Worlds_First_Labradoodle&at_bbc_team=BBC)\n  \n  ![Witness History: The world's first labradoodle ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/705c\/live\/05249430-2446-11f1-934f-036468834728.jpg)\n- [The hit whimsical comedy‑drama audiences are loving](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/iplayer\/episode\/m002q768?at_mid=RqUvlsCj2B&at_campaign=Small_Prophets_S1_E1&at_medium=display_ad&at_campaign_type=owned&at_nation=NET&at_audience_id=SS&at_product=iplayer&at_brand=m002q765&at_ptr_name=bbc&at_ptr_type=media&at_format=image&at_objective=consumption&at_link_title=Small_Prophets_S1_E1&at_bbc_team=BBC)\n  \n  ![Small Prophets](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/dd9c\/live\/486d6e10-02ea-11f1-b5e2-dd58fc65f0f6.jpg)\n- [A crime thriller full of dark family twists](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sounds\/play\/m002rt0v?at_mid=s1ccs6NN5D&at_campaign=Limelight_The_Dentist&at_medium=display_ad&at_campaign_type=owned&at_nation=NET&at_audience_id=SS&at_product=sounds&at_brand=p09hbsqb&at_ptr_name=bbc&at_ptr_type=media&at_format=image&at_objective=consumption&at_link_title=Limelight_The_Dentist&at_bbc_team=BBC)\n  \n  ![Limelight](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/0710\/live\/ef602cf0-1648-11f1-9120-a910fc22c6ac.jpg)\n- [New drama inspired by Marian Keyes' bestsellers](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/iplayer\/episode\/m002qk54?at_mid=zx9vtRMgqX&at_campaign=The_Walsh_Sisters&at_medium=display_ad&at_campaign_type=owned&at_nation=NET&at_audience_id=SS&at_product=iplayer&at_brand=m002qk52&at_ptr_name=bbc&at_ptr_type=media&at_format=image&at_objective=consumption&at_link_title=The_Walsh_Sisters&at_bbc_team=BBC)\n  \n  ![The Walsh Sisters](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/13ca\/live\/f1cb72d0-0d90-11f1-b5e2-dd58fc65f0f6.jpg)\n\n## Most read\n1. 1\n   \n   [Sarah Ferguson is lying low, but pressure is mounting for her to give evidence on Epstein](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn87j9ry43ro)\n2. 2\n   \n   [UK allows US to use bases to strike Strait of Hormuz targets](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c36rny6xgppo)\n3. 3\n   \n   [Elon Musk misled Twitter investors, jury finds](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c62j3yl842eo)\n4. 4\n   \n   ['UK facing new tax hikes' and 'My Ricky's last hug'](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cp3ldgyy7d9o)\n5. 5\n   \n   [Chuck Norris memes were undefeated for a generation of young fans](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c62541e29z9o)\n6. 6\n   \n   [Traitors and Idris Elba help Comic Relief raise £30m](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvg3gnlwn10o)\n7. 7\n   \n   [Dame Jenni Murray, former BBC Woman's Hour presenter, dies at 75](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cpwj8e25ddgo)\n8. 8\n   \n   [Five questions that still need answering about the meningitis outbreak](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cz783d70x8ro)\n9. 9\n   \n   [Iranian strikes on bases used by US caused \\$800m in damage, new analysis shows](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cddq7j48p35o)\n10. 10\n    \n    [Trump makes Pearl Harbor remark in meeting with Japan's PM](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c8dlpr074q3o)\n\n## BBC News Services\n- [On your mobile](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/10628994)\n- [On smart speakers](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/help-50068132)\n- [Get news alerts](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/10628323)\n- [Contact BBC News](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/20039682)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Innovation](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/innovation)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n\n- [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/terms-of-use)\n- [About the BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/aboutthebbc)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/pages\/privacy-policy)\n- [Cookies](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/usingthebbc\/cookies)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/accessibility)\n- [Parental Guidance](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/iplayer\/guidance)\n- [Contact the BBC](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/contact)\n- [BBC emails for you](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/bbcnewsletter)\n- [Advertise with us](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/advertisingcontact\/)\n- Do not share or sell my info\n\nCopyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [Read about our approach to external linking.](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/editorialguidelines\/guidance\/feeds-and-links)","attrs_readable_markdown":"**Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said.**\n\nGeir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama.\n\nInstead, the decision was met with [criticism in the US, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/world\/americas\/8299697.stm). Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award.\n\nMr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself [had been surprised, external](http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/world\/americas\/8299824.stm).\n\n\"No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama,\" Mr Lundestad writes.\n\n\"Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,\" he says. \"In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for\".","meta_canonical":null}

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:

Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:

Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

21 days ago

🚫

ROBOTS BLOCKED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	0.7 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34277960
Last Crawled	2026-03-21 02:44:49 (21 days ago)
First Indexed	2017-10-27 01:01:48 (8 years ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	Nobel secretary regrets Obama peace prize - BBC News
Meta Description	The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to live up to expectations, the committee's ex-secretary says.
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Boilerpipe Text	Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said. Geir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama. Instead, the decision was met with criticism in the US , external . Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award. Mr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself had been surprised , external . "No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama," Mr Lundestad writes. "Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake," he says. "In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for".
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Geir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama. Instead, the decision was met with [criticism in the US, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8299697.stm). Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award. Mr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself [had been surprised, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8299824.stm). "No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama," Mr Lundestad writes. "Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake," he says. "In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for". ![US President Barack Obama holds his Nobel Peace Prize next to Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, in Oslo - 10 December 2009](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/976/cpsprodpb/3961/production/_85598641_gettyimages-94465162.jpg) Image source, AFP Image caption, Mr Obama was presented the award by committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland He also reveals that Mr Obama considered not going to pick up the award in Norway's capital, Oslo. His staff enquired whether other winners had skipped the ceremony but found this has happened only on rare occasions, such as when dissidents were held back by their governments. "In the White House they quickly realised that they needed to travel to Oslo," Mr Lundestad wrote. Mr Lundestad served as the committee's influential, but non-voting, secretary from 1990 to 2015. He has broken with the tradition of the secretive committee, whose members rarely discuss proceedings. ## Other insights The book also gives other insights into the activities of the committee: - According to Mr Lundestad, Jonas Gahr Store, then Norway's foreign minister, tried in 2010 to dissuade the panel from [awarding the prize to a Chinese dissident](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11935230), fearing it would strain the country's relationship with Beijing. The Nobel committee ignored the warnings and honoured Liu Xiaobo. - Mr Lundestad also criticises Thorbjorn Jagland, who was the committee chairman for six years and is now a regular member. He said that as a former Norwegian prime minister, Mr Jagland should never have been appointed to the committee, which frequently stresses its independence. - In an amusing anecdote, Mr Lundestad relates how he found Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who won the award in 1994, watching an episode of the Tom and Jerry cartoon in his hotel with other Palestine Liberation Organisation members. "It was made very clear that they intended to watch until the end," he said. This year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 9. ## More on this story - [Nobel faces Liu Xiaobo boycotts](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11935230) ![Breaking News](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/466/mcs/media/images/44536000/jpg/_44536487_breaking_splash_466x260.jpg) ## Top stories - [UK allows US to use bases to strike Strait of Hormuz targets](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36rny6xgppo) - [Live. 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Readable Markdown	Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said. Geir Lundestad told the AP news agency that the committee hoped the award would strengthen Mr Obama. Instead, the decision was met with [criticism in the US, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8299697.stm). Many argued he had not had any impact worthy of the award. Mr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself [had been surprised, external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8299824.stm). "No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama," Mr Lundestad writes. "Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake," he says. "In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for".
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