The winner of the $1.3m (�787,000) prize will be announced on Thursday.

Nobel judges are said to be looking further afield for this year's prize, as the past eight winners have been from Europe.

Some literary experts claim Said is favourite in an attempt to alleviate bitterness at the US invasion of Iraq.

"This prize should always be seen in a political context," said Javier Rodriguez Marcos of Spain's Babelia literary supplement "One factor could be countries that have been in the news recently, from Arab cultures," he said.

Poet contenders

"If we can get someone in this area, it will show this is not only an area of violence, that there is also life and culture here," said Duraid Albik, news editor of Dubai's Gulf News.

The last time a poet won the prize was in 1986, when Wislawa Szymborska took the honour. Last year's prize was won by the Hungarian writer Imre Kertesz of Hungary.

Another hotly-tipped poet is Robert Ashbury of the United States, while Swede Tomas Transtroeme is also said to be in the running.

US author Norman Mailer, Britain's controversial Satanic Verses writer Salman Rushdie and New Zealand poet Janet Frame are also said to be contenders.

"It's all about compromises. And I think the 2003 laureate will not be cause for a big debate," said Claes Wahlin, literary editor of Swedish daily Aftonbladet.