Colombian president Santos receives Nobel Peace Prize

The president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos has been announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize after his attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Farc rebels in the country after a 52-year conflict.

The committee in Norway recognised the efforts of Santos, despite the rejection of the peace agreement by the Colombian people last weekend.

A narrow majority of 50.2% voted down the deal last Sunday after the negotiations between Santos and Farc leader Rodrigo Londoño, who was also thought to have been in contention for the award.

"The Norwegian Nobel committee has decided to award the Nobel peace prize for 2016 to Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end," said the committee chairwoman, Kaci Kullmann Five.

"There is a real danger that the peace process will come to a halt and that civil war will flare up again. This makes it even more important that the parties, headed by President Santos and Farc guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, continue to respect the ceasefire," she said.

Around 260,000 people died in the conflict, and more than six million have been internally displaced.