Mohamed ElBaradei
|
|
Mohamed_ElBaradei.jpg
| Contents |
Early career
ElBaradei earned a Bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Cairo in 1962 and a Doctorate in International Law at the New York University School of Law in 1974. His diplomatic career began in 1964 in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign affairs, where he served on two occasions in the Permanent Missions of Egypt to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. In 1980 he became a senior fellow in charge of the International Law Program at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
Since 1984, ElBaradei has been a senior member of the IAEA Secretariat, holding a number of high-level positions. Before his current position of Director General, he has been the agency's legal adviser (1984 - 1993) and Assistant Director General for External Relations (1993 - 1997).
ElBaradei is also a member of the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law. He is married to Aida Elkachef and has two children, Laila and Mostafa.
Controversy
ElBaradei has served as the Director General for the IAEA for two terms since December 1, 1997, and is now set for a third term after the current US administration reluctantly reversed its opposition to him in June 2005. According to the Washington Post [1] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57928-2004Dec11.html) several intercepts were made, on ElBaradei's phone calls concerning Iran's nuclear program, in which the Bush administration hoped to find information that would help to remove ElBaradei as director of the IAEA. ElBaradei has questioned the U.S. rationale for the war in Iraq since the 2003 Iraq disarmament crisis, when he, along with Hans Blix, led a team of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, seeking evidence of weapons of mass destruction. He is also accused by the US for his lenient approach in dealing with the Iranian program.
There is no rival candidate for the upcoming term, though the US tried to convince Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who declined, to run for the job. The decision of the IAEA board of governors was still postponed through May 2005. [2] (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2854) On 9 June, the US dropped its objections after a meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and ElBaradei, which opened the way to approval by the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on 13 June. [3] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4075496.stm)
October surprise
Ten days before the 2004 US presidential election, a query by ElBaradei about 377 tons of missing explosives in Iraq surfaced in what many pundits had referred to as the then-expected "October surprise".
Quotes
- ElBaradei stated in the New York Times (February 12, 2004):
- "If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction." [4] (http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2004/ebNYT20040212.html)
External links
- Washington intercepts ElBaradei phone calls for information to displace him (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57928-2004Dec11?language=printer)de:Mohammed el-Baradei
fr:Mohamed ElBaradei it:Mohamed ElBaradei ja:モハメド・エルバラダイ no:Mohamed ElBaradei pl:Mohamed ElBaradei