Clinton Nominated for Nobel Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- President Clinton and American

peace envoy George Mitchell were among those

nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize as the

deadline ran out Monday.

Clinton was nominated for at least the fifth straight year,

this time by two Norwegian parliamentarians, Vidar

Kleppe, of the right-wing Party of Progress and Steinar

Bastesen, an independent.

``Clinton is president of the world's most powerful nation

and throughout his presidential term has been a

guarantor and friend of peace,'' a news release from the

legislators said. They said he was a key player in

ending war and conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, and

defends human rights worldwide.

The Norwegian awards committee said it may not

release the number of nominations until its first meeting

on Feb. 23.

The secretive five-member Nobel Peace Committee

never releases the names of candidates. However, those

making nominations often announce their pick. The

winner is announced in mid-October.

The Norwegian news agency NTB said Mitchell was

nominated for his peace efforts in Northern Ireland by an

American congressman, who was not identified.

Finnish lawmakers in December nominated their

President Martti Ahtisaari, whose term ends this month,

for his peacemaking efforts in Kosovo and Namibia.

Each year, the awards committee is flooded by

nominations, many of them invalid because they are

made by those without nomination rights. This year,

invalid nominations included one from a group of Serbian

war veterans for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic,

blamed for much of the violence in the Balkans through

the 1990s, NTB said.

Those with nomination rights include members of

national legislatures and governments, past laureates,

some university professors and peace groups, and

awards committee members.

The committee also accepts nominations postmarked

by the Feb. 1 deadline, even if they arrive weeks later.

The Nobel prizes were created by Alfred Nobel, the

Swedish industrialist whose inventions included

dynamite. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo and the

other prizes in Stockholm, Sweden. The prizes are

always presented on the Dec. 10 anniversary of Nobel's

death.

Last year's peace prize went to the humanitarian group

Doctors Without Borders.

Mon, 31 Jan 2000 11:40:02 PST

Story from AP / DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press (via ClariNet)