Rabin, Arafat and Peres received their award at a ceremony in December 1994

England have

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and two Israelis, the Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, have been named the winners of this year's Nobel peace prize.

The announcement has been marred by the resignation of one of the Nobel peace prize committee members.

Kare Kristiansen objected to the honour being given to the PLO leader, whom he described as "too tainted by violence, terror and torture".

The award has also been overshadowed tonight by the bungled rescue of a kidnapped Israeli soldier from his militant Palestinian captors, which ended in the deaths of the captive, three of his kidnappers and one of his would-be rescuers.

It is the first time the prize has been divided among more than two named individuals and only the third time in the prize's 93-year history that a committee member has broken ranks publicly and quit.

The peace prize follows the historic handshake between the PLO leader and the Israeli Prime Minister on the White House lawn on 13 September 1993, marking an agreement to give the Palestinians limited autonomy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho.

The Nobel Committee statement said the award was to honour a political act "one that called for great courage on both sides...By concluding the Oslo accords Arafat, Peres and Rabin have made substantial contributions to a historic process through which peace and cooperation can replace war and hate".

But the failed rescue attempt of Corporal Nahshon Waxman has served to highlight how frail the peace is in the Middle East.

The Israelis had accused Hamas of holding Corporal Waxman in PLO-administered territory. But after the PLO leader ordered a search and detained some 150 suspects, the soldier was eventually found in an Israeli-occupied area of the West Bank.

The kidnappers were demanding the release of their leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and 200 Hamas extremists being held in Israeli jails. Otherwise, they said, they would kill Corporal Waxman.

Mr Rabin refused to negotiate and - an hour before the captors' deadline expired - Mr Rabin ordered the rescue attempt.

He said afterwards: "I would happily give back the Nobel Peace Prize to bring back the lives of the soldiers who fell.

"Whoever wants to advance peace must fight the radical, murderous terrorists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the rejectionists because they are the murderers of peace."

Middle East experts were surprised at the inclusion of Mr Peres in the award. Although he and Rabin represent the same political party, they are bitter rivals. Both men have claimed the credit for last year's breakthrough.

Today's was the second Nobel peace prize awarded to peacemakers in the Middle East, the first being the 1978 joint award to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israelia Prime Minister Menachem Begin.  

Police escort a tearful Ann Parkinson, the former minister's wife

Cecil Parkinson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, has resigned.

The decision comes as fresh details were revealed about his extramarital affair with his former secretary Sara Keays.

Miss Keays published a statement in The Times newspaper today to "put the record straight" regarding the nature of their relationship.

Her statement criticises Mr Parkinson's conduct and attitude towards their relationship and the revelation that she was pregnant with his child.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had initially stood by her Trade and Industry Secretary, but accepted his offer of resignation at the Conservative party conference early this morning.

After returning from the conference Mr Parkinson made no comment to reporters assembled outside his Hertfordshire home.

In a statement issued through his solicitor, Mr Parkinson referred back to his original statement of 5 October where he admitted the affair but said no more questions would be answered on the matter.

Friends of Mr Parkinson say he is "quite broken", that he does not entirely accept Miss Keay's version of events, and that he has no plans to give up his parliamentary seat.

In her statement Sara Keays said that Mr Parkinson had not been as frank about the affair as he had claimed.

She added that media comment, government pronouncements and continued speculation had placed her "in an impossible position".

She said she had a "duty" to speak out about her relationship with Mr Parkinson, after perceiving that the full facts had not been made public.

Miss Keays denied suggestions that she had tried to trick Mr Parkinson into marriage or that she had sought to destroy his reputation.

"My baby was conceived in a long-standing, loving relationship which I allowed to continue because I believed in our eventual marriage," she said.

She also said that pressure on her to remain silent would cast doubt on her own reputation and the child's "fundamental right" to know its father's identity.

Cecil Parkinson has held several senior positions in the government since 1979, and was credited as the mastermind behind the Tories' successful general election campaign in June.

frail: easily broken or damaged or destroyed（脆弱的；虚弱的）

extramarital :characterized by adultery（私通的）