OSLO, Norway — Up to 151 groups and individuals have been nominated for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, many inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and their aftermath, the Nobel Institute said Wednesday.
Olav Njoelstad, acting director of the institute, confirmed media reports that President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani were among the nominees.
"So far, there are 151 nominations," Njoelstad told Reuters just after finishing counting up the nominations. "It is clear that the Sept. 11 attacks have had an impact this time."
The first meeting this year of the secretive Nobel Committee is set for Thursday, when its five members can add to the nominations.
Last year, when the award on the 100th anniversary of the first prize went to the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the nominations totaled 136.
The Nobel committee keeps nominations secret, but it is common for those who make nominations to make public the identities of their candidates.
Njoelstad, tight-lipped on the nominations, said the candidates represented all five continents, but he declined to comment on speculation by some observers of the prize that the committee would make a rare choice and pick a Muslim winner.
Last time the Nobel committee honored a Muslim was in 1994 when the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat shared the prize with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Njoelstad said among Sept. 11-related candidates were also "groups which have worked for understanding and respect between religions."
But he declined to comment on whether the Council of Churches, tipped as a candidate by some observers as it works for tolerance between religions, was among the nominees.
Neither Bush nor Blair is likely to win. Bishop Gunnar Staalsett, a member of the Nobel committee that elects the winner, has spoken out against the U.S.-led and British-backed strikes on Afghanistan. Former laureates, members of the Nobel committee, members of every national parliament and professors of politics are among those entitled to make nominations, before a Feb. 1 deadline.
The award, worth $940,000, is announced in mid-October.