Reuters
April 27, 2005
By Louis Charbonneau

The United States is alone on the board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog in opposing a third term for agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, diplomats said Wednesday.

Heeding a U.S. request, the 35-nation governing board of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delayed a decision until June on whether to give ElBaradei a third term at the high-profile agency, which he has headed since 1997.

"The United States is the only country against ElBaradei," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

The United States, which supported ElBaradei in 1997, turned against him because of what it sees as a lack of cooperation in Iraq and Iran, while most IAEA members see him as the only reasonable choice for a job no one else has come forward for.

Allies Canada and Australia have deserted Washington and are pressuring the Americans to accept the 62-year-old Egyptian lawyer for another 4-year team.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that Washington had a vendetta against ElBaradei but confirmed that the United States still wanted him out.

He said ElBaradei had "served with distinction" but added that Washington believed "heads of U.N. organizations should serve no more than two terms."

Diplomats said the U.S. wanted to delay the decision for two reasons. First, it wants to make one last attempt to get the 12 votes necessary to block ElBaradei's re-election in June, which diplomats in Vienna say will be very difficult for Washington.

But Washington also wants to see how its nomination of hawkish former U.S. Undersecretary of State for arms control John Bolton to the post of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in New York plays out, they said.

"The U.S. doesn't want a vote until it's clear what happens with Bolton," a diplomat on the IAEA board said.

The nomination has bogged down over allegations that Bolton, an outspoken U.N. critic, tried to bully State Department intelligence analysts to tailor their work to suit his hard-line political views and that he was abusive to junior officials.

The U.S. official denied there was any link between Bolton's nomination difficulties and ElBaradei's re-election.

Although the U.S. mission to the IAEA would be answerable to the State Department, few diplomats on the agency's board believe Bolton would keep his hands entirely off the IAEA if he was confirmed to the post.

© 2005 Reuters

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