Reuters: Falun Gong Among 126 Nominees for 2001 Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Feb 13, 2001 -- (Reuters) The Red Cross, whose founder won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, and China's banned Falun Gong spiritual group are among 126 nominees for the award on its 100th anniversary.

Other nominees include a convicted U.S. killer, soccer's governing body FIFA, the European Court of Human Rights, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

"We have a preliminary count of 126 candidates, of which 28 are organizations," Geir Lundestad, director of the Nobel Institute, told Reuters on Tuesday. He declined to give names but people making nominations often publicize their choices.

"The number is likely to increase because nominations are still coming in," he said. Nominations for the prize, won by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 2000, have to be postmarked by the end of January.

"But I doubt we'll reach last year's record of 150 nominees," he said. "We can't have a new record every year." Most nominations came from North America and Europe.

The prize, worth 9.0 million Swedish crowns ($929,700) in 2000, is named after Swedish philanthropist Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite. The winner will be announced on October 12.

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