Nobel Peace Prize winner urges Obama: Focus on Mideast peace

        Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari urged US President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday to start his term by giving "high priority" to the Middle East conflict, calling it the world's most challenging peace-building project. In his acceptance speech in Oslo, the Finnish diplomat and mediator also warned that the global financial crisis would strike hard at the developing world, and called on governments to not cut back on foreign aid. Insisting that "all conflicts can be settled," Ahtisaari said he did not share the view that the decades-long violence between Israel and Palestinians would rage indefinitely. "We cannot go on, year after year, simply pretending to do something to help the situation in the Middle East. We must also get results," Ahtisaari said in prepared remarks released before his speech. The 71-year-old former Finnish president was awarded what many consider the world's most coveted prize for his three decades of work mediating conflicts from Namibia to Kosovo and Indonesia. So far he has not sought a role to mediate in the Middle East. "I hope that the new president of the United States, who will be sworn in next month, will give high priority to the Middle East conflict during his first year in office," Ahtisaari said.(17,41)