Schröder Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize, according to DPA news agency. Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass of Germany, who won the 1999 prize for literature, said Monday that he considered Schröder a candidate for the peace prize over his opposition to allowing Germany participate in the US-led attack on Iraq. A record 199 nominations including 166 individual nominees were reported to be under consideration for the 2005 award. The peace prize, worth 10 million kroner ($1.5 million, 1.24 billion euros), will be announced Oct. 14 in Oslo, Norway. Other names mentioned were former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, renowned musician Ravi Shankar of India, Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng and previous nominees such as former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, and Bono of the Irish rock group U2. Parliamentarians, academics, former peace prize laureates and current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel committee have the right to nominate candidates.