The Nobel Institute says that 44 countries have now accepted invitations to an Award Ceremony later this week for this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The Institutue said two countries have not replied to their invitations while nineteen countries including China have declined. Earlier the Chinese Foreign Ministry had suggested that the vast majority of nations would not attend. A report says that after months of intense lobbying, China has now announced that the vast majority of nations will boycott the event. So far China and eighteen other countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran have declined the invitations.