The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is overseeing the destruction's of Syria's arsenal, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 11), the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE THORBJORN JAGLAND SAYING:

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, for its extensive work for eliminating chemical weapons."

Experts from the Hague-based global chemical weapons watchdog, supported by the United Nations, are working to destroy Syria's massive chemical weapons stockpile after a sarin gas strike in the suburbs of Damascus killed more than 1,400 people in August.

The $1.25 million prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 w