Norway's King Harald V and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustav inaugurated Saturday the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo. Nobel peace laureates since the prize was first awarded in 1901 will be shown to audiences in both text and picture form in the exhibition hall and event complex in a former station in west Oslo, according to DPA. The Swedish founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel, who lived from 1833 to 1896, provided for the establishment of the Nobel Prize in his will. According to his wishes, the peace prize is presented in Oslo while all others are awarded in Stockholm. The opening of the centre comes as part of Norway's Centennial celebrations marking independence from Sweden on June 7, 1905. Renovation and furnishings of the ultramodern centre were put at 21.5 million euro (26 million dollars). The opening ceremony was attended by Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai who in 2004 became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her successful battle for the reforestation of Kenya and for the establishment of human rights. -- SP 0007 Local Time 2107 GMT
