IAEA chief brushes off concern over Arab nuclear development

The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency said Sunday that he was not concerned about Arab countries using nuclear energy for power development, despite international controversy over Iran's atomic program.

Many countries in the Mideast have expressed interest in developing peaceful atomic energy programs in response to rising domestic energy consumption and possibly to counter Iran's nuclear activities.

"All the Arab countries' nuclear activities will be under agency safeguard systems, so I don't see a reason why anybody should be concerned about ... Arab countries using nuclear energy for power development,"

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters after meeting with Arab League chief Amr Moussa in Cairo.

["and possibly to counter Iran's nuclear activities. " - nobody's talking about peaceful uses - we're being insulted by the suggestion]

FLASHBACKS :

[June 6, '07 >]
IAEA head: Attack on Iran over would be "madness"
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency cautioned on Thursday that an attack on Iran over its refusal to freeze programs that could make nuclear weapons would be "an act of madness," in indirect warnings to the United States and Israel. IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei also said Iran would likely be running close to 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges by the end of next month - a number agency officials have described as the point of no return ...
[context: nowhere in the article does the AP remind readers that this is the person who seriously called for the West to destroy all in nukes as an example to others - and we're supposed to listen to his definitions of 'madness'?]
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813032839&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[May 24, '07 >]
IAEA head calls for total atomic ban as Iran still defiant
Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called Thursday for a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons as Iran continued defiance over its nuclear programme. /snip/ ElBaradei said governments should forge a new collective security order which bans [?!?] all nuclear weapons.
[certifiable but laughable coming from a nobody - but from the head of a world body, criminally insane - and yet another example of the UN's slide from worse-than-worthless to increasingly-dangerous]
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1308927.php/IAEA_head_calls_for_total_atomic_ban_as_Iran_still_defiant

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