UN nuke watchdog wins Peace Prize

MOHAMED ELBARADEI and the International Atomic Energy Agency that he heads won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Mr ElBaradei, a 63-year-old lawyer from Egypt, has led the UN nuclear agency as it grappled with the crisis in Iraq and the ongoing efforts to prevent North Korea and Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.

The Nobel committee said Mr ElBaradei and the IAEA should be recognised for addressing one of the greatest dangers facing the world. “At a time when the threat of nuclear arms is again increasing, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to underline that this threat must be met through the broadest possible international cooperation. This principle finds its clearest expression today in the work of the IAEA and its director general.”

Mr ElBaradei said in Vienna, Austria, that the prize “sends a strong message” about the agency’s disarmament efforts and will strengthen his resolve to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

“The award basically sends a very strong message, which is: Keep doing what you are doing,” he said.

The committee said it recognised the IAEA and Mr ElBaradei for “their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way”.

Mr ElBaradei, who was re-appointed last month to a third term, has had to contend with US opposition to his tenure. Much of the opposition stemmed from Washington’s perception he was being too soft on Iran for not declaring it in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. That stance blocked a US bid to haul Tehran before the UN Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions, for more than two years.

The IAEA passed a resolution last month warning Tehran of such referral unless it allayed fears about its nuclear program.

Mr ElBaradei also refused to endorse Washington’s contention that Iran was working to make nuclear weapons and disputed US assertions that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq had an active atomic weapons program.

Mr ElBaradei and the agency had been among the names mentioned as speculation mounted in recent days the Nobel committee would seek to honour the victims of nuclear weapons and those who try to contain their use.

The committee has repeatedly awarded its prize to anti-nuclear weapons campaigners on the major anniversaries of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“This is a message to all the people of the world: Do what you can to get rid of nuclear weapons,” Nobel committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said.

A record 199 nominations were received for the prize, which includes €1 million, a gold medal and a diploma.