Baradei Concedes Iaea Is in Dark on Fate of Arms
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
UNITED NATIONS – As Washington officials questioned the reliability of an Iraqi official who reported that 377 tons of explosives went missing after the war, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged yesterday that his agency is in no position to know what exactly happened.
IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei confirmed in an interview yesterday that the sole source for the story that dominated the news last week was a letter sent to the agency on October 10 from an Iraqi official, Mohammed Abbas.
“All we know (is that) the Iraqis reported to us the material is missing,” Mr. ElBaradei told The New York Sun. “We have been out of Iraq for a long time. If it were destroyed I would be very happy, if it hasn’t been destroyed I’d be very worried. But I have no clue.”
According to a Washington source, Pentagon and State Department officials now suspect Mr. Abbas might have acted on his own and was unauthorized to write a letter to the IAEA.
Shortly after Mr. Abbas’s letter was sent to Mr. ElBaradei, it was leaked to the New York Times and CBS, creating the political controversy regarding the missing explosives. After that, Mr. El-Baradei sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council, describing the Abbas letter to him.
According to the letter the missing explosives, which could be used as detonators in nuclear weapons and therefore were sealed by the IAEA, were lost after the April 9, 2003, fall of Saddam Hussein “throughout the theft and looting of the government installations due to lack of security” – an allegation that was highlighted by Mr. ElBaradei’s spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, and became a top item in Senator Kerry’s stump speech.
Mr. Abbas signed his letter to Mr. El-Baradei as “General Director of the Planning and Following Up Directorate of the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology.” According to a U.N. source, he was installed in the ministry only recently by Prime Minister Allawi. Now Iraqi officials are said to be conducting an internal investigation into the matter.
Mr. ElBaradei refused to comment further until more facts come out, but an IAEA official told the Sun that the agency waited for five days after Mr. Abbas’s letter arrived in its Vienna offices before passing it to the American-led coalition for verification, and the Iraqi interim government’s mission in Vienna confirmed to the agency during those five days that the letter was authentic.
The new twist in the story did not faze IAEA officials, who deny they were the ones who leaked Mr. Abbas’s letter to the press. Mr. ElBaradei also denied in the interview yesterday that his October 1 Security Council briefing was designed to prompt Mr. Abbas to report the missing explosives and ignite a political firestorm.
“I have a legal obligation to report to the council every six months,” Mr. ElBaradei said. Since 1991 “we have this mantra that we should get this information from the Iraqis,” he added. “The timing may be unfortunate from the American election perspective, but people have to understand that this is absolutely apolitical.”
He blamed the fact that this has become an election issue on the American press. “The media here needs to mature a little bit,” he said. “There are certain things that are not affected by political hype.”
He said that he was “agnostic” about his own re-election campaign for a third term at the head of the agency. An American official told the Sun yesterday that after the explosives controversy, the Bush administration is even more adamant about opposing Mr. El-Baradei’s re-election.
“I’ve been asked by just about everybody to stay,” Mr. ElBaradei said, adding that he would continue doing his job as a professional, regardless of whether his term is extended. “I’d be very happy to move on and do other things. Public service, as you know, after a while is personal sacrifice.”
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday that “there should be two-term limit.” Mr. Ereli, however, left the door open to a third term “when it becomes an issue.”
In his report to the U.N. General Assembly yesterday, Mr. ElBaradei sidestepped the missing-explosives controversy. On another issue, he reported of “steady progress” in his agency’s understanding of Iran’s nuclear program. The Bush administration, however, has said that the Iran issue should be transferred to the Security Council, where sanctions could be applied.
Mr. ElBaradei’s report to the IAEA’s board of governors, expected later this month, may decide this issue. In the interview, he said that before issuing his report he hoped “to have a positive confirmation by Iran that they are suspending all their enrichment-related and processing activities.”
The Egyptian-born official added that he supports a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. “In the long run, the situation right now, in which you have Israel sitting on a nuclear program and everybody else is subscribed to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, is not sustainable,” he said.