Peace Prize will give the world brief break from war on terror

OSLO, Norway -- As the world watches a war on terrorism unfold, peace will enter the stage -- if only briefly -- this week.

The Nobel Peace Prize, celebrating its centennial this year, will be announced Friday. Prize-watchers view the United Nations and its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, as front-runners although, as always, the selection committee has kept silent about those being considered.

Because the nomination period ended Feb. 1, this year's peace prize is very unlikely to reflect developments since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

The nomination deadline is rigid and selectors keep their deliberations focused on world events before that time, said Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Nobel Peace Prize committee.

Nominations for the Nobel prizes in peace and those awarded in Sweden for literature, medicine, chemistry, physics and economics start flowing from around the world soon after annual winners are feted at elaborate ceremonies every Dec. 10.

Individuals and groups often receive multiple nominations, and there were 136 nominees this year, Lundestad said.

"In one case, there were 2,500 valid letters of nomination for one candidate. That is the most in recent years," said Lundestad, a historian who has worked for the committee for a decade. "Years ago, we got 750,000 declarations of support for one candidate."

Thousands of people have nomination rights, including many university professors, members of governments and national legislatures, some organizations, past laureates, the committee itself and its staff.

Some people try nominating themselves for the peace prize, which apart from its prestige carries a hefty cash award -- 10 million Swedish kronor this year, or nearly $940,000.

"People do try to nominate themselves, but those are always invalid," Lundestad said.

The committee is appointed for six-year terms by -- but does not answer to -- Norway's parliament, the Storting. It is fiercely protective of its independence, and doesn't deal with the several hopefuls or their lobbyists who generally turn up in Oslo each year.

When Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, created the Nobel prizes in his 1896 will, his instructions were general.

His will said the peace prize was for "the person who shall have done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

That has been expanded to include conflicts within a nation, human rights and pro-democracy activists.