OSLO, Feb  22, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A total of 305 nominations have been
submitted for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Institute said on
Wednesday, remaining tight-lipped about the names on the list.

The nominations -- fewer than the record 376 registered in 2016 -- comprise
212 individuals and 93 organisations, the Oslo-based institute said on its
website.

In line with Nobel statutes, the identity of the candidates is kept
confidential for 50 years.

 But those eligible to nominate -- including former laureates, lawmakers and
cabinet ministers from any country in the world, and some university professors
-- are free to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed.

 Like last year, most of the names publicly disclosed so far are involved in
the nearly year-long conflict that has been raging in Ukraine, or opponents of
Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his Turkish
counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and a Ukrainian
group working to establish an international war crimes tribunal.

 Others known to have been nominated are jailed Putin opponents --
anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who was the victim of a poisoning
attack, journalist and political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza and the
pro-democracy youth movement Vesna.

Also believed to be on the list this year are climate activists Greta
Thunberg of Sweden and Vanessa Nakate of Uganda, Iranian women's activist Masih
Alinejad and her anti-hijab movement My Stealthy Freedom, as well as the
Salvation Army.

 Chinese and Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are believed to have been
nominated (Chow Hang-tung, Peng Lifa, the group Uyghur Tribunal), as well as
Myanmar's ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun -- sacked by the junta but still in
his position -- and the anti-junta coalition NUCC, and Maggie Gobran, who helps
the poor in Cairo's slums.

 Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was shared by Russian human rights group
Memorial, Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) and jailed Belarusian
rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, a trio representing the three nations at the
centre of the war in Ukraine, which all three have criticised.