WASHINGTON, June 9: The United States on Thursday reversed its opposition to UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei and said it was ready to accept a third term for the Egyptian despite past policy disagreements.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was ready to join other nations in supporting Mr ElBaradei, who is the only candidate for director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We expect that when the vote comes up in the (IAEA) board of governors on this issue we will join the consensus,” he said after Mr ElBaradei held talks here with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The IAEA board will choose a new head when it holds a regular meeting opening on Monday at its headquarters in Vienna. Washington had resisted a new four-year term for Mr ElBaradei, who had run the agency since 1997.
The US administration and Mr ElBaradei had clashed over the assessment of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities before the invasion. The Americans also considered the IAEA chief too soft on Iran’s nuclear program.
But Washington appeared ready to at least try to bury the hatchet.
“With respect to any alleged past disputes, we’re looking forward and there is a lot of work to be done,” McCormack said.
“Based on the news reports that I see out there today, the vote, if held today, would have Dr. ElBaradai continuing at the IAEA and we would join such a consensus.”
The opposition of President George Bush’s administration to the 62-year-old ElBaradei took the form of a reluctance to go beyond the usual two terms for a UN official.
“We continue to believe that the two-term rule is an important principle within the UN. We believe it leads to a healthy UN system,” McCormack said.
But a State Department official, who asked not to be named, confirmed that while ElBaradei was not the Americans’ choice for the post, he was the only candidate available.—AFP
