By Callam Rodya

Controversial disclosure website WikiLeaks is among the nominees for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, widely considered to be the world’s top international accolade.

Norwegian parliamentarian Snorre Valen submitted WikiLeaks for nomination to the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee. He spoke about the website being “one of the most important contributors to freedom of speech and transparency” in the world today.

“By disclosing information about corruption, human rights abuses and war crimes, WikiLeaks is a natural contender for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Valen said.

Meanwhile, the US government remains furious with the website and its eccentric founder, Julian Assange, for releases thousands of classified diplomatic cables and military documents over the past several months.

Assange himself is facing extradition to Sweden from Britain with regards to a sex case he and his supporters call a smear campaign designed to close down the website.

WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization funded by the public and human rights groups. It has frequented the media as of late for its disclosure of thousands of documents ranging from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the foreign affairs of many of the world’s most powerful nations.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded later this year.