REYKJAVIK (AFP) - Opposition members of parliament on Tuesday called on the government to make Iceland a global leader in freedom of expression and information.

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They submitted a resolution seeking new laws to strengthen freedom of expression and information in Iceland, as well as providing strong protection for sources and whistleblowers.

"Iceland will become a haven for investigative journalism," one of the opposition MPs behind the resolution, Birgitta Jonsdottir, told AFP.

"I´m very hopeful that members of all the parties will be united on this ... hopefully it can go through parliament quickly and we´ll see a vote in two weeks," Jonsdottir said.

The resolution says that the legal frameworks of other countries should be reviewed, "with a view to assemble the best laws to make Iceland a leader in freedoms of expression and information."

If it becomes law, "it will be more than likely that some publishers will move to Iceland, even in the form of moving Internet servers to the country," Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) spokesman Smari McCarthy told AFP.

"Iceland could become an ideal environment for Internet-based international media and publishers to register their services, start-ups, data centers and human rights organisations," IMMI, which crafted the resolution's text, said on its website.

"Others may choose to set up investigative journalist units based in Iceland," McCarthy added.

Jonsdottir said she was hopeful parliament would vote on the resolution within two weeks.

French European Parliament member Eva Joly, who was named by Reykjavik to investigate the October 2008 collapse of its once-booming financial sector, said the proposal was "a strong way of encouraging integrity and responsive government around the world, including in Iceland."