Edward Snowden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The fugitive intelligence leaker has been nominated by a former Norwegian socialist party minister.
Snowden who currently lives in Russia, leaked documents last year which revealed widespread surveillance of individuals and institutions by the US National Security Agency.
Saturday is the deadline for submitting nominations for the 2014 peace prize.
In a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee Baard Vegar Solhjell said
"He has contributed to revealing the extreme level of surveillance by nations against other nations and of citizens."
"Snowden contributed to people knowing about what has happened and spurring public debate" on trust in government, which he said was "a fundamental requirement for peace".
Solhjell and his party colleague Snorre Valen said that they do not necessarily condone or support all of Snowden's disclosures, but praised him for revealing the "nature and technological prowess of modern surveillance".
"The level of sophistication and depth of surveillance that citizens all over the world are subject to have stunned us, and stirred debate," they wrote in the nomination letter.
They added that Snowden's actions have "led to the reintroduction of trust and transparency as a leading principle in global security policies".
