But don't get too excited: there are 149 other nominees:

The governor of the U.S. state of Illinois who spared all inmates on death row, Pope John Paul, a Cuban dissident and Irish rock star Bono are among a near-record 150 nominees for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.

"We have a total of 150 nominees so far, of which 21 are organisations," Geir Lundestad, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, told Reuters on Tuesday after compiling a list of names sent by a February 1 deadline.

He said the list was likely at least to match the record 156 for the 2002 prize, won by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, because members of the secretive five-member awards committee can propose names when they first meet on February 25. [Reuters]