231 Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Posted February 27th, 2012 at 10:50 am (UTC-5)
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The Norway-based Nobel Institute said it has received 231 nominees for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

This year's suggestions include Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private charged with leaking a huge cache of classified documents to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Thousands of people are eligible to submit nominations, including lawmakers, university professors, past laureates and several international organizations. They had until February 1 to propose candidates.

The Nobel committee doesn't reveal who has been nominated, but those with nomination rights sometimes announce their picks.

The winner of the $1.5 million prize will be picked a five-member selection committee and announced in October.

Last year's prize was shared by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian women's rights campaigner Leymah Gbowee and “Arab Spring” activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.