US Praises ElBaradei But Future Support Unclear
Date: 19-Mar-04
Country: USA
Author: Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
Still, it seemed a long shot that the Bush administration would support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general if he runs for a second four-year term.
U.S. officials said on Wednesday they have begun to talk about who might fill the job when ElBaradei's term ends in 2005.
No decisions have been made but "I don't think he would be the first choice of this administration," one official said.
ElBaradei, 61, has not said if he wants another term and some speculate he may seek instead to lead the Arab League.
In the runup to the Iraq war, ElBaradei stoked U.S. anger by saying IAEA inspectors had found no evidence of a continuing nuclear program in Iraq.
President Bush and top aides insisted the program existed, but no weapons have been found.
In recent months, U.S. officials have faulted ElBaradei for not being tough enough on Iran's nuclear program and for not ferreting out Libya's nuclear weapons program.
In December, when Libya gave up its nuclear weapons program, U.S. officials did not trust the IAEA to do the dismantlement, so they took charge.
But as ElBaradei visited Washington this week for talks on critical nuclear issues, U.S. officials seemed pleased with his latest efforts.
"He did a good thing last week when he made a statement that Libya and Iran were both in breach of their nuclear obligations. It floored us," said one U.S. official who is usually critical of ElBaradei.
'THE RIGHT THING'
"He chose to do the right thing and helped us" persuade the IAEA board to pass a resolution deploring Iran for failing to make good on a promise to disclose all nuclear activities, the official said.
Another official said Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told ElBaradei "he did a bang up job at the IAEA board of governors' meeting" with the resolution.
ElBaradei on Wednesday took another step sure to please the White House, telling the U.S. Congress he could not rule out the possibility Iran is pursuing atomic weapons.
Washington accuses Tehran of using its nuclear power program as a front to build a bomb. It has pushed the IAEA to send the issue to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions on Iran, but ElBaradei and Europeans have resisted, preferring to seek a negotiated solution.
Experts said there are several reasons for ElBaradei's tougher stand on Iran, including that Tehran embarrassed him and key European states by hiding research on "P2" centrifuges capable of making bomb-grade uranium.
"The evidence is so overwhelming, he couldn't cover for that," one U.S. official said.
But Jon Wolfsthal of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Washington also needs to work with the IAEA if it wants to move Iran to the Security Council.
Washington "learned the lesson of Iraq. Unless you get international inspectors to support your view, you won't get the international support needed to take punitive action," he said.
Wolfsthal endorsed ElBaradei, saying "it would be a shame to force somebody out who is competent and effective simply because we don't always agree with him."
Henry Sokolski of the Non-proliferation Education Center said: "ElBaradei has done better than his predecessors in describing the (proliferation) problem but no better in figuring out practical ways to address these problems."