Ahtisaari was Finland's president from 1994 to 2000 and worked as a UN diplomat and mediator [EPA]

The committee announced the selection on Friday, giving him the prize for his long career of mediation work including a 2005 accord between Indonesia and separatists in its Aceh province.

Ahtisaari was chosen to receive the $1.4m prize from a field of 197 candidates.

Ahtisaari has earned a worldwide reputation as one of the greatest peacemakers of the 20th century from handling some of the thorniest of international problems.

During his career, the 71-year-old Finnish native brokered solutions to conflicts in Namibia, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Kosovo and Northern Ireland.

Joha Christensen, a friend who worked with Ahtisaari during the Aceh peace talks, told Al Jazeera: "This is fantastic news. Of course it's meaningful for the Aceh people. I' very happy for that."

Talking of Ahtisaari's skills as a negotiator, Christensen said: "I think he is able to provide the atmosphere where the parties in a conflict feel they are equal and can concentrate on the issues at the core of the conflict.

"In a dignified way he is the 'head master'. He brings people back to the real issues, back to reality."

Ahtisaari and Indonesia

Aceh is one of Indonesia's poorest and most underdeveloped provinces. For centuries the region was an independent sultanate while other parts of the country were colonised by the Dutch.

The Geraken Aceh Merdeka (GAM), the Free Aceh Movement declared in 1976 that the province had been illegally annexed by Indonesia in 1949. Decades of fighting followed in which thousands of people died.

Peace in Aceh had been sought numerous times, but all attempts failed before Ahtisaari succeeded. He mediated negotiations in secret talks between the Indonesian government and GAM until the conflict ended in 2005.

After studying failed peace negotiations, Ahtisaari formed the Aceh Monitoring Mission with the help of the EU and the Association of South East Asian Nations to create a space for both parties to live peacefully.

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