another middle eastern nobel?

The Observer reports that the announcement of the Nobel for literature has been delayed due to squabbling among the committeee....and hints that the possible selection of Orhan Pamuk is the subject of the dispute. I'm not quite sure why he's made out to be so controversial in the piece (among nationalists in Turkey, perhaps, but not so much in the international literary sphere) and it's a bit disingenous to claim that the EU hasn't criticized the recent prosecution of Pamuk for "insulting Turkish identity" with his statements about the Armenian genocide. That said, I'd agree with the contention that he's a bit of a faddish choice, and probably not deserving of the prize (yet) in comparison to other candidates (if the Nobel committee wants to criticize his persecution, great, but is that really a reason to give him the prize?) On that note, the article also mentions much speculation that the Syrian-born poet and critic Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said) is the frontrunner--which would be an exciting choice.