Oslo- Human rights activists from China, Russia or Vietnam topped speculations on the eve of the announcement of this year's Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

The five-member Nobel Committee advises nominators not to announce their proposals but there are no rules against the procedure, allowing fodder for speculation before Friday's announcement.

In 2007 the prize was shared by former US vice president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their efforts to raise awareness about climate change.

Names in the advance speculation for 2008 prize include Chinese dissidents, Hu Jia and Wei Jingsheng.

Hu Jia, who has campaigned for democracy and highlighted the environment as well as HIV/AIDS issues, was sentenced in April to three years and four months for subversion.

Russian human rights activist Lidia Yusupova, who raised awareness about the war in Chechnya, has been mentioned in earlier speculation as has Thich Quang Do, a pro-democracy activist and deputy patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam that is not recognized by the Vietnamese government.

In addition to the Nobel Committee, candidates may be nominated by members of parliament, academics and former Peace Prize laureates.

In all 197 nominations have been made for the 2008 Peace Prize, the second highest to date, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said.

Among the 33 nominated organizations was the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) that has pushed for a ban against cluster munitions.

The prize, worth 10 million kronor (1.5 million dollars), was endowed by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. (dpa)