Ex-diplomat tells of war of words over Obama's peace prize

Barack Obama

When Norway awarded Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, only weeks into his presidency, it was seen not as a mark of his achievements, but as yet another symbol of the impossibly high expectations he had set for his tenure.

Now, a senior Norwegian diplomat has revealed that, far from feeling honoured by the award, the White House was furious.

Morten Wetland, the former Norwegian ambassador to the United Nations, claimed in an article for the business paper Dagens Naeringsliv this week that, when the prize was announced, Obama's then-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, confronted and "dressed down" the country's Ambassador to the United States, Wegger Strommen.

Emanuel reportedly accused Strommen and Norway of "fawning" over the newly elected Obama.

Wetland, now a partner in an Oslo lobbying firm, wrote: "My most embarrassing day in the United Nations over the years I was the Norwegian ambassador there was the day the award to US President Barack Obama was announced. My colleague in Washington received an overhaul from Obama's chief of staff."

The White House may have believed the prize was a ploy to lure the popular new President to Norway, Wetland told the country's English-language news service The Local.

"My guess is that the President's staff want to be in control and not to be forced into a position that they have not been seeking themselves," he said.

"It could have been perceived that someone was consciously or subconsciously thinking about the prospect of having Obama visit Norway. Obama wouldn't have visited Norway if it hadn't have been for the Peace Prize."

-Independent