Manning was detained without charge in a U.S. military prison for almost two years.

A total of 231 nominees, including people, organisations and even a TV channel, have been submitted to the selection committee in Oslo, Norway that will decide the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, to be awarded in October.

The final list of nominees is kept a secret, and there is intense speculation every year regarding the names on it. This year’s list allegedly includes a number of repeat nominees; including Bill Clinton and Helmut Kohl, TV-station Al Jazeera, as well as some controversial first time contenders including Bradley Manning, the 24-year-old U.S. soldier accused of the biggest leak of U.S. classified information in history.

Along with 250 000 diplomatic cables, Manning is also accused of leaking footage of U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan and Baghdad. Many of these images and cables have appeared on whistleblower site, Wikileaks. After being arrested in May 2010, Manning was detained without charge in a military prison in the States. He was only formally charged last week (almost two years after being arrested) and will face a court martial, and perhaps even the death penalty if he is formally censured.

Manning is easily the most interesting, if not notorious, nominee on the list, though the current favourite to actually take the award is Gene Sharp, an American political scientist and non-violence advocate who inspired some of the key figures behind last year’s Arab Spring protests.

Last year the award was given to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian women’s rights advocate Leymah Gbowee and Yemen’s Tawakkul Karman.

[Source: Slate, AFP]