Nobel jury eyes Arab spring

This year's Nobel prizes season opens today with the medicine prize announcement - and the prestige-laden award for peace is tipped to be coloured by the Arab spring.

The names of Nobel prize nominees are kept secret by the various selection committees, but speculation has reached fever pitch about who will win in medicine, physics, chemistry, economics, literature and peace.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the peace prize, has confirmed a record 241 nominations for 2011. It honoured jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo last year.

Nobel watchers say that, in a year so dominated by the Arab spring uprisings, which led to the overthrow of autocratic regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and rattled despots in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, an activist from that movement might get the call on October 7.

"The Arab spring is the favourite topic this year," said Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of Oslo's Peace Research Institute.

If a role player in the Arab spring uprising were honoured, Harpviken said, his pick would be Israa Abdel Fattah, of Egypt, and the April 6 Youth Movement that she co-founded with Ahmed Maher in 2008.

The movement, which began on Facebook, "played a key role in maintaining the direction and non-violent character of the uprisings in Egypt," he said.

Also on Harpviken's short list was Google executive Wael Ghonim, "a principled non-violence activist" who was a central figure of inspiration to the protesters on Tahrir Square.

Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" might also inspire this year's award, in which case Tunisian blogger Lina ben Mhenni, who chronicled the revolution in her country on the internet, figures among the favourites.

Other names circulating are Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar, Russian human rights organisation Memorial, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl and the European Union.

The Nobel peace prize will be awarded in Oslo on December 10.