Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama called Barack Obama's peace prize "a little early" as the US president picked up the award in Oslo.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told Sky News that Obama was energetic and "very able" but admitted the peace prize, previously handed out to Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, may be premature.
"I think if you are realistic, it may have been a little early," he said during a visit to Australia. "But it doesn't matter, I know Obama is a very able person."
Obama was revealed as this year's winner in October, just nine months into his presidency and as he pondered sending tens of thousands more troops to the war in Afghanistan.
Thousands of protesters joined demonstrations in the Norwegian capital as Obama accepted the award yesterday, chanting "Yes, Yes, Yes We Can, Stop the War in Afghanistan," in a parody of his election campaign slogan.
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