The European Parliament has nominated Iraqi parliament member Mithal al-Alusi for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, according to the al-Quds al-Arabi daily. The Iraqi parliament voted last month to strip al-Alusi of his immunity from prosecution after he visited Israel on his own initiative to attend a conference on terrorism.

Al-Alusi says the nomination "shows that the world is watching the yearning of people for freedom and liberation from campaigns of ignorance and backwardness." The prize is named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. Previous winners of the prize, first awarded in 1988, are former South African president Nelson Mandela and world bodies such as the United Nations.