The editor of the Keadilan party organ, Berita Keadilan , today said that even if the director of the prestigious Oslo-based International Peace Research Institute (IPRI) had not nominated Anwar Ibrahim for the Nobel Peace prize, there were probably others who had done so.

Khalid Jaafar said this when asked to comment on the claim by Keadilan that IPRI director Stein Tonnesson had nominated Anwar Ibrahim for the award this year.

However, when contacted by malaysiakini , Tonnesson denied that he had nominated the ex-deputy prime minister.

He clarified that he had merely made a speculation in his own personal capacity when asked by an international news agency and this in no way reflected a nomination.

Asked about the discrepancy, Khalid said he was not aware of it and that the tipoff concerning Anwar's nomination had first come to him from a Reuters report.

"It was Reuters who disclosed Anwar Ibrahim's nomination for the Nobel Peace prize. We were just quoting them," he said.

The Reuters report in question however, had not named Tonnesson as the individual who had nominated Anwar.

'High standing'

Berita Keadilan recently revealed that Tonnesson as the individual who made the alleged nomination.

When asked the grounds for the report, Khalid said that he "wasn't sure how (the paper) obtained the information" and that he would have to "check with his reporter on the matter".

As to other Nobel Peace Prize nominations for Anwar, he said that "... several people have told us of this possibility, but we have not yet identified the sources of the nominations".

"I wouldn't say that these are merely rumours. Anwar is well-known in many circles, both locally and internationally.

"There are many individuals of high standing out there who could have independently nominated him," said Khalid, who is also a Keadilan supreme council member.

Among those eligible to nominate candidates for the prestigious prize are members of the Nobel Committee, parliamentarians, Nobel laureates and university professors.

The Nobel Committee, which name the prize winners later in the year, does not disclosed the nominees as a policy.