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U.S. Fails to Persuade Nations to Replace ElBaradei
The United States has failed to persuade 15 countries to support an effort to replace International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, effectively stalling the plan, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Jan. 10). “It’s on hold right now,” said one U.S. policy-maker who lobbied against ElBaradei. “Everyone turned us down, even the Brits.” In addition to the United Kingdom, the United States also unsuccessfully approached Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa and South Korea, U.S. officials said. “We can certainly live with another ElBaradei term,” a British official said. While Dec. 31 was the deadline for submissions of candidates to replace ElBaradei, some U.S. officials held hope that an Argentine nuclear specialist might still agree to run, according to the Post. “There’s some thinking that the emergence of a new candidate could encourage [IAEA Board of Governors] members to oppose ElBaradei,” a U.S. official said. The expected resignation of U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who has led the anti-ElBaradei effort, could bring the plan to an end, officials said. “He was the driving force behind the block-ElBaradei idea,” an official said (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Jan. 22).
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