Bush, Blair get nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway -- President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been nominated for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for fighting terrorism and securing world peace, a Norwegian lawmaker announced Monday.

Harald Tom Nesvik, a member of parliament from the right-wing Party of Progress, said he has nominated the two leaders who have been at the forefront of the war in Afghanistan.

"The background for my nomination is their decisive action against terrorism, something I believe in the future will be the greatest threat to peace," Nesvik said. "Unfortunately, sometimes ... you have to use force to secure peace."

Nesvik has nomination rights as a member of a national legislature.

The Oslo-based awards committee accepts nominations postmarked by Feb. 1, so proposals continue to arrive and a final number is not expected until late in the month.

Other Sept. 11-related nominations mentioned, but not confirmed, include former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Guy Tozzoli, an engineer who helped design the World Trade Center.