Guests arrive for Nobel Peace ceremony to honour jailed laureate

Dignitaries arrived Friday at Oslo City Hall to attend the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to honour jailed Chinese political activist Liu Xiaobo.

Members of the Norwegian government and outgoing speaker of the US House of Representnatives Nancy Pelosi were among the prominent guests for the ceremony taking place without Liu or any members of his family, DPA reported.

The Nobel institute said that at least 15 countries were remaining absent from the ceremonies, at which the Liu's chair was symbolically left empty.

Liu is serving an 11-year sentence for sedition. He was sentenced for his role in organising the Charter '08 for democratic reforms.

China was angered by this year's choice of Liu as the Peace Prize laureate, calling him a "criminal" and urging countries to stay away from the prize ceremonies.