48 Facts About Mohamed ElBaradei

1.

Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July 2013 until his resignation on 14 August 2013.

2.

Mohamed ElBaradei was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations, from 1997 to 2009.

3.

Mohamed ElBaradei was born and raised in Giza Governorate, Greater Cairo, Egypt.

4.

Mohamed ElBaradei was one of five children of Mostafa ElBaradei, an attorney who headed the Egyptian Bar Association.

5.

Mohamed ElBaradei's father was a supporter of democratic rights in Egypt, supporting a free press and an independent judiciary.

6.

Mohamed ElBaradei is married to Aida El Kashef, a former early-childhood teacher.

7.

Mohamed ElBaradei earned a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Cairo in 1962, a masters degree LLM in 1971 and a doctorate degree JSD in international law in 1974 from the New York University School of Law.

8.

Mohamed ElBaradei's thesis was titled "The right of passage through straits in time of peace".

9.

In 1984, Mohamed ElBaradei became a senior staff member of the IAEA Secretariat, serving as the agency's legal adviser and Assistant Director General for External Relations.

10.

Mohamed ElBaradei is currently a member of both the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law.

11.

Mohamed ElBaradei began to serve as Director General of the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, on 1 December 1997, succeeding Hans Blix of Sweden.

12.

Mohamed ElBaradei was re-elected for two more four-year terms in 2001 and, despite opposition from the United States, to a third term in 2005.

13.

Mohamed ElBaradei's tenure has been marked by high-profile, non-proliferation issues, which include the inspections in Iraq preceding the March 2003 invasion, and tensions over the nuclear program of Iran.

14.

Just a couple of months before Mohamed ElBaradei took office, the Model Additional Protocol was adopted, creating a new environment for IAEA verification by giving it greater authority to look for undeclared nuclear activities.

15.

When in office, Mohamed ElBaradei launched a program to establish "integrated safeguards" combining the IAEA's comprehensive safeguard agreements with the newly adopted Additional Protocol.

16.

Consequently, Mohamed ElBaradei established a nuclear security program to combat the risk of nuclear terrorism by assisting member states to strengthen the protection of their nuclear and radioactive material and installations, the Nuclear Security Fund Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine.

17.

Mohamed ElBaradei disputed the US rationale for the 2003 invasion of Iraq from the time of the 2002 Iraq disarmament crisis, when he, along with Hans Blix, led a team of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.

18.

Mohamed ElBaradei told the UN Security Council in March 2003 that documents purporting to show that Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger were not authentic.

19.

The Washington Post reported in December 2004 that the Bush administration had intercepted dozens of Mohamed ElBaradei's phone calls with Iranian diplomats and was scrutinizing them for evidence [that] they could use to force him out.

20.

On 9 June 2005, after a meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Mohamed ElBaradei, the United States dropped its objections.

21.

Mohamed ElBaradei's work has been universally recognized in the international community.

22.

Mohamed ElBaradei was unanimously re-appointed by the IAEA board on 13 June 2005.

23.

In 2008, Mohamed ElBaradei said that he would not be seeking a fourth term as director general.

24.

Mohamed ElBaradei, leader of the National Coalition for Change, has been a major voice for democratic change in Egypt since 2009 and was a significant leader during the 2011 protests.

25.

Mohamed ElBaradei has called for international criminal investigation of former Bush administration officials for their roles in planning the war on Iraq.

26.

Coblentz noted that Mohamed ElBaradei had first confronted Mubarak in early 2003, during the lead-up to the Iraq War, as well as on subsequent encounters.

27.

Mohamed ElBaradei made clear that his wife is not very enthusiastic about any potential run.

28.

On 27 January 2011, Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Egypt amid ongoing turmoil, with the largest mass protests in 30 years, which had begun two days earlier, on 25 January 2011.

29.

Later on, Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in Tahrir Square to join thousands of other protesters against the Mubarak regime and spoke directly to the people, stating that they "have taken back [their] rights" and that they cannot go back.

30.

Mohamed ElBaradei's appointment is controversial largely because of the long periods that he has spent outside the country.

31.

Mohamed ElBaradei's appointment is seen as a recognition of the importance of various Western nations' support of the revolts.

32.

Mohamed ElBaradei did not make any clear statements regarding his intentions to run for the office; however, he has demanded that certain conditions be met to ensure fair elections accompanied by changes to the constitution that will allow more freedom for independent candidates before he would actually consider running for the presidency.

33.

On 24 February 2010, Mohamed ElBaradei met with several opposition leaders and notable intellectuals at his home in Cairo.

34.

On 7 March 2011 it was announced that Mohamed ElBaradei intended to run for the presidential elections, this intention was later clearly stated in a live interview by Mohamed ElBaradei to the ON TV channel 10 March 2011.

35.

On 14 January 2012 Mohamed ElBaradei declared he would not run for president.

36.

On 4 July 2013 Mohamed ElBaradei was mentioned as a favorite to head a transitional Egyptian government amid the 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat as the prime minister.

37.

On 28 April 2012, Mohamed ElBaradei launched the Constitution Party.

38.

Mohamed ElBaradei was involved in the coup d'etat that toppled democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi amid mass protests against the perceived mismanagement of the country, the refusal of Morsi to form a coalition government, and the authoritarian influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on what had been a secular Muslim-majority state for decades.

39.

Mohamed ElBaradei gave support to the military's plan to oust Morsi and begin implementing a "political road map" for Egypt, including the installation of Supreme Constitutional Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour as interim president of Egypt.

40.

Mohamed ElBaradei was present when General Sisi announced the temporary suspension of the constitution and the removal of Morsi from power.

41.

Mohamed ElBaradei reportedly denied interest in the position at first.

42.

Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as vice president, responsible for international relations, on 14 July 2013.

43.

Mohamed ElBaradei is a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law.

44.

Mohamed ElBaradei is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

45.

Mohamed ElBaradei is the fourth Egyptian to receive the Nobel Prize, following Anwar Sadat, Naguib Mahfouz, and Ahmed Zewail.

46.

Mohamed ElBaradei stated that only one percent of the money spent to develop new weapons would be enough to feed the entire world and that, if we hope to escape self-destruction, nuclear weapons should have no place in our collective conscience and no role in our security.

47.

Mohamed ElBaradei has received many awards for his work as director of the IAEA:.

48.

Mohamed ElBaradei is a member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Ibrahim Prize Committee.