Background

Mohamed ElBaradei was on June 17, 1942, in Cairo, Egypt, son of the late Mostafa ElBaradei, a lawyer and former President of the Egyptian Bar Association. Mostafa ElBaradei was also a supporter of democratic rights in Egypt, supporting a free press and a legal system that was independent.

Education

ElBaradei followed in his father's footsteps, graduating from the University of Cairo with a bachelor's degree in law in 1962.

While living in New York, ElBaradei continued his education. In 1974, he earned his doctorate in international law from New York University.

Career

Mohamed ElBaradei started his diplomatic career with the Egyptian Ministry of External Affairs in 1964 and was posted at the Permanent Missions of Egypt to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. He was given the charge of handling such issues as legal, political, and the control of arms.

From 1974 to 1978 he worked as the Egyptian foreign minister's special assistant. He was made a senior fellow in charge of the International Law Program conducted at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

He worked for the New York School of Law as an adjunct professor from 1981 to 1987 and taught international law. He was a senior staff member and the legal adviser of the IAEA Secretariat from 1984 to 1993. He was made the Assistant Director General for External Relations and held the post from 1993 to 1997.

He became the Director General of IAEA on December 1, 1997, and was posted in Vienna. He called upon all countries to abide by the Model Additional Protocol for declaring undeclared nuclear arms and by 2009 more than 93 countries had the protocol in place. He was re-elected to the post in 2001. He told the UN Security Council in March 2003 that nothing incriminating was found in the search carried out in Iraq in 2002.

The United States strongly objected to his re-election for a third term but was supported by Russia, China, France and Germany, and many developing countries. After the United States dropped its objections he was unanimously elected to the post on June 13, 2005. When offered a fourth term in 2008, he refused the same.

Mohamed ElBaradei received the Nobel Peace Prize on October 7, 2005, for his efforts on nuclear disarmament and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. On January 25, 2011, the day of the start of the turmoil in Egypt, he declared that he would like to lead a provisional government. He returned to Egypt on January 27, 2011, but the main opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, was reluctant to make him the leader of the movement.

He announced that he would run for the President in March 2011 but later retracted. On April 28, 2012, ElBaradei formed the Constitution Party which merged with other secular parties to form the National Salvation Front on November 24, 2012, against President Mohammed Morsi’s regime. He became its coordinator on December 5, 2012.

After President Mohamed Morsi was removed, it was announced on July 4, 2013, that ElBaradei would be the Prime Minister but the statement was retracted on July 7, 2013, due to objections from some parties. He was elected as Vice President on July 14, 2013, but resigned from the post on August 14, 2013, after the security forces killed 525 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi during protests.

Achievements

• ElBaradei received the Nobel Peace Prize on October 7, 2005, jointly with IAEA for his efforts on nuclear disarmament and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
  
  At present, he holds a member's post in both the American Society of International Law and the International Law Association.
  
  He has been awarded by the governments of many countries including the highest honor of his own country.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times

    (For the past two decades, Mohamed ElBaradei has played a ...)

    2011

Religion

Mohamed ElBaradei said once, "To me, religion is the core values [with] which I felt as comfortable Christians, with Buddhists, with Jews. I don't see much difference. [...] Egypt at that time was multi-cultural. I remember I used to play squash. I bought the equipment from a shop that was run by Australians. My father used to go rowing and his trainer was an Italian. My mother used to go to a tailor, "Madame Euphegine," she was French. My parents used to buy me toys from a shop, Mr. Zak, who was Jewish. Egypt was in a way was very much, religion was not something people talked about. [...] But, religion to me, at that time, and continues to be, it's a good guiding set of principles which I share with everybody else. My daughter's husband is British, my first girlfriend was Jewish. I never really felt that religion is a major factor I have to take into account."

Politics

Mohamed ElBaradei wanted to make the world a better place by strengthening the IAEA safeguards and using them as a standard worldwide. He also wanted more UN-mandated sanctions for countries that do not want safeguards. ElBaradei told Lally Weymouth in an interview published on the IAEA website shortly before he was elected to a third term, "If re-elected, I will continue to do things the way I see best. It's very important to me that this multinational institution continue to be impartial and independent. I will not compromise on this... I have spent almost 30 years of my life doing this, and before I cross to the other side, I want to get the Iran issue out of the way and get to the bottom of the A.Q. Khan [former head of Pakistan's nuclear program] network - he provided the complete kit [for a nuclear weapon] to Libya."

Secure in his position, ElBaradei set these kinds of ambitious goals for his third term. He wanted to rein in the nuclear ambitions of Iran as well as deal with the uncertainties surrounding the North Korean nuclear program. ElBaradei was proud of what he had accomplished in Iran. In 2003, the IAEA was unsure what was happening in Iran with their nuclear capabilities. By early 2005, the IAEA had been in Iran and knew exactly where that country stood. ElBaradei hoped to reach a diplomatic solution shortly, though he understood there were complex issues at hand. Discussing the way to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear country, ElBaradei acknowledged the need for American support, but also told Weymouth in the interview published on the IAEA website, "You need inspections, but you need to also work with them diplomatically. If a country is suspected of going nuclear, you need to understand why. Why does it feel insecure? You need to address [Iran's] sense of isolation and its need for technology and economic [benefits]. They have been under sanctions for 20 years."

ElBaradei also had grave concerns about nuclear arms and terrorists. He wanted to ensure that terrorists could not get their hands on nuclear arms, believing this could put the world in jeopardy. ElBaradei believed that export controls have not worked and nuclear materials could be bought with relative ease on the black market by both terrorists and rogue nations. Another key goal centered around the question of how to give nuclear energy capabilities to countries eager to produce nuclear power but not let them be able to take the next step to produce nuclear weapons. ElBaradei's idea was to allow countries to build nuclear reactors and related technologies. However, he believed that fuel cycles should be controlled by an international group, like the IAEA, to ensure the removal of spent fuel. By removing this fuel, it cannot be enriched or processed again to make nuclear arms.

Views

ElBaradei believes the world's security strategies have not yet caught up with the risks countries are facing. The globalization that has swept away the barriers to the movement of goods, ideas, and people has also swept with it barriers that confined and localized security threats.

Quotations: "Everybody has to chip in, I think, and see how we can have a functioning system of collective security where we do not continue to face the threat of countries trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction or particularly nuclear weapons."

"I think it is fair to say that it is under a great deal of stress, and if I am asking for significant changes, it is because the world is going through significant changes."

"So, we need to delegitimize the nuclear weapon, and by de-legitimizing... meaning trying to develop a different system of security that does not depend on nuclear deterrence."

"We continue to have nuclear weapons relied on as a weapon of choice. If that policy were to continue, we continue to have countries who are in a security bind, if you like, or perceive themselves to be in security bind to look for acquisition of nuclear weapons."

"Challenging the integrity of the non-proliferation regime is a matter which can affect international peace and security."

"I hope everybody will go back to the negotiating table. I've always said this is the only way forward."

"I think we still have a chance if we continue with our work, if Iraq provides full cooperation, we should still be able to avoid a war."

Membership

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  International Law Association

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  American Society of International Law

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  Global Leadership Foundation

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  Global Commission on Drug Policy

Personality

Mohamed ElBaradei has many hobbies. For instance, he has a love for antique carpets. When ElBaradei is in Vienna he goes regularly to visit his friend who is a carpet dealer and he exchange and buy carpets.

Interests

• Modern art

• Artists

  Miles Davis, Jack Herrera

• Sport & Clubs

  Squash

• Music & Bands

  Classical music, jazz

Connections

Mohamed ElBaradei is married to Aida Elkachef, an early childhood teacher. They have a daughter, Laila, a lawyer in private practice, and a son, Mostafa, a studio director with a television network, both of whom live and work in London, England.

Father:

Mostafa ElBaradei

Mother:

Aida Hegazi

Spouse:

Aida Elkachef

Daughter:

Laila ElBaradei

Son:

Mostafa ElBaradei

Friend:

James Morris

ElBaradei's friend James Morris heads the World Food Programme, whose task it is to feed the hungry.

References

• Mohamed ElBaradei on Facebook‬