US gives up opposition to IAEA chief

[Henk Elegeert]

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http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=11441
International Relations and Security Network ISN - Security
Watch

"
US gives up opposition to IAEA chief


ISN SECURITY WTCH (09/06/05) - After an unsuccessful
campaign to replace Mohammed ElBaradei as director-general
of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
Washington has changed tactics, offering him its support in
return for a tougher stance on Iran.

Washington has also invited ElBaradei - who is almost
certain to be appointed to run the IAEA for a third term -
for talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the
Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Rice extended the invitation in order to offer ElBaradei US
support in exchange for his taking a tougher line on Iran.

Until Wednesday, the administration of US President George
Bush had waged a rigorous campaign against ElBaradei. That
campaign was spearheaded by the controversial US nominee for
ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Bolton has said his
opposition to ElBaradei stemmed from a traditional US policy
that opposed more than two terms for UN directors-general,
although the UN allows three terms.

Critics of the Bush administration say the opposition to
ElBaradei was a result of his skepticism towards US
allegations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction
(WMD). ElBaradei has been vindicated since the US invasion
of Iraq in March 2003. Despite intense efforts, the US
occupation forces never found any banned weapons.

During the Bush administration’s campaign against ElBaradei,
the US halted all intelligence-sharing with the IAEA, and
planted eavesdropping devices on ElBaradei, hoping to obtain
information that could be used against him.

Bolton was seen as taking a particularly aggressive tact
against the IAEA chief. Larry Wilkerson, the former chief of
staff for former secretary of state Colin Poll, told the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Bolton had gone “out
of his way to bad-mouth him, to make sure that everybody
knew that the maximum power of the United States would be
brought to bear against them if he were brought back in”.

The other 34 members on the IAEA board all supported
ElBaradei, forcing Washington to reassess its tactics, as
ElBaradei would have been reappointed regardless of the US
position.

Rather than continue fighting a losing battle, the
Washington Post reported, Rice decided it was better to
offer ElBaradei support in exchange for assurances that he
would adopt a harder stance on Iran.

In the last two years, ElBaradei and his inspectors have
uncovered preparations for uranium enrichment within a
large-scale nuclear program that Iran has developed for at
least 18 years. Tehran insists the program is designed only
for the production of nuclear power, and is not part of a
weapons program.

The IAEA conducted inspections in Iran, but ElBaradei found
no concrete evidence to dispute Tehran’s story or to support
US claims that Iran was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

The Bush administration has rejected the IAEA’s findings and
ElBaradei’s statements, which have undermined the US
campaign against Iran.

(By Ustina Markus in Washington, DC)
"

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