Cuban dissident, Kosovo expert nominated for Nobel

from AlertNet

Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who drafted a plan for supervised independence for Kosovo, are among a near-record 197 nominees for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

"Of the total, 164 are individuals and 33 are organisations," Geir Lundestad, head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, told Reuters. "This is the second highest number -- the most was in 2005 with 199." The secretive five-member committee met on Tuesday to begin narrowing down the field after nominations closed at the start of February. The 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.62 million) award, which can be split up to three ways, will be announced on Oct. 10.

Lundestad declined to give any names of nominees.

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