Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are Nobel Prize nominees

PanARMENIAN.Net - A record 205 candidates are in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, including 33 organisations, the Nobel Institute said on Friday, with US President Barak Obama and France's Nicolas Sarkozy known to be on the list, AFP reports.



In 2005 199 candidates were competing for the prestigious prize. The names of nominees are kept secret by the institute for 50 years. However, those who are entitled to nominate are allowed to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed.



Both Obama and Sarkozy are already known to be on the list, although observers say it is unclear if either leader has a real shot at winning the much-coveted laurel.



"Sarkozy has clearly been very active on the international stage, in Georgia and in the Middle East where he has tried to help bring an end to the Gaza war, but he has yet to truly show a breakthrough," ," Gunnar Soerboe, head of the Christian Michelsen Institute told AFP.



Thousands of people are eligible to submit nominations, including members of parliament and government worldwide, university professors, previous laureates and members of several international institutes. The Nobel Committee that awards the prize is also eligible to nominate candidates.



According to Stein Toennesson, head of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO), the most high-profile candidates did not always figure among the most likely winners.



Other known contenders for this year's prize include former French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt and Chinese dissident Hu Jia. Hu Jia was considered a front-runner for the 2008 prize.



The Cluster Munitions Coalition is also known to be on the list after it played a central role in getting nearly 100 countries to sign a treaty last year in Oslo banning cluster bombs.



This year candidates are of very diverse geographical origins. The name of the winner will be announced in early October, and the award will be presented at a formal ceremony held as tradition dictates on December 10. Last year's winner was former Finnish president and career diplomat Martti Ahtisaari for his efforts on several continents, over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts. In 2007 the winner was a former U.S. president Albert Gor.