| Sounds eminently sensible to me... |
US President George W. Bush's administration has listened in on phone calls between Mohamed ElBaradei and Iranian diplomats, seeking ammunition to oust ElBaradei as head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the Washington Post said on Sunday. "The intercepted calls have not produced any evidence of nefarious conduct by ElBaradei," the Post said, quoting three unnamed US officials who had read the transcripts.
| Since this is a rather sensitive item, I'd guess that's why the Post is reporting on it. |
"Some people think he sounds way too soft on the Iranians, but that's about it," one official was quoted as saying. The United States wants the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, which ElBaradei heads, to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over what Washington says is a covert nuclear weapons program. But ElBaradei says the "jury is still out" on whether Tehran's program is peaceful or not. The Egyptian diplomat, 62, also earned the ire of Washington by questioning US intelligence on Iraq. The Bush administration opposes his winning a third term in 2005 as IAEA chief. The official US position is that heads of international organizations should not serve more than two terms, as ElBaradei will have done by next year. |