10 Feb 2011

UN / ELBARADEI

Former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei talks about the need to abolish nuclear weapons and focus on the “sanctity of human life” instead of glorifying “death and destruction” prior to the release of his memoir on nuclear diplomacy to be published in April 2011. CTBTO / FILE

Posted at: February 10, 2011 4:58 pm

Duration: 02:14

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: UN / ELBARADEI
TRT: 2:14
SOURCE: CTBTO / IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 12 NOVEMBER 2010, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – IAEA - 2 MARCH 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

1. Tracking shot, Mohamed ElBaradei walks to the dais
2. Close-up, ElBaradei at dais
3. Med shot, IAEA meeting

12 NOVEMBER 2010, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed ElBaradei, Former Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency:
"Right now with the possibility of every country acquiring nuclear weapons, with the perception that nuclear weapons continue to give you power and prestige, with the prospect of extreme groups acquiring nuclear weapons, they have to understand that the idea that having nine nuclear weapon States is no longer going to continue. Either you are going to abolish nuclear weapons starting with taking concrete steps. The first one is the CTBT ratification and then cut off treaty to abolish the production of nuclear material for weapon purposes. Or you are going to see a different world all together and the next ten, twenty years you will see plethora of countries with nuclear weapons."

FILE – IAEA - 21 OCTOBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

5. Wide shot, IAEA meeting on Iran
6. Med shot, ElBaradei at meeting
7. Med shot, Iranian delegate at meeting

12 NOVEMBER 2010, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed ElBaradei, Former Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency:
"If governments are serious, they better ratify the CTBT. Because that means we are starting the concrete steps to move toward a world free from nuclear weapons. If you'd like to continue the option of testing new weapons of qualitative improvements of nuclear weapons, then we are going backwards."

FILE – IAEA - 22 FEBRUARY 2008, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

9. Wide shot, ElBaradei walking into his office
10. Various shots, ElBaradei working

12 NOVEMBER 2010, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed ElBaradei, Former Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency:
"If you ever go into a nuclear war nobody will survive on the planet. I am surprised that still people cannot get this simple logic. And we have to make that simple choice. Either we put the emphasis on the sanctity of human life or we are going to glorify death and destruction. And that's the choice we have right now."

FILE – IAEA - 21 OCTOBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

12. Med shot, ElBaradei at the end of a meeting on Iran

STORYLINE:

Former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei urged countries to abolish nuclear weapons and focus on the "sanctity of human life" instead of glorifying "death and destruction" prior to the release of his memoir on nuclear diplomacy to be published in April 2011.

ElBaradei, who received the Peace Prize in 2005, sat down on the sidelines of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates last year (2010) to talk about nuclear disarmament.

He said "the idea of having nine nuclear weapon States is no longer going to continue" adding that in "the next ten, twenty years" there will be a "plethora of countries with nuclear weapons."

ElBaradei's first book, "The Age of Deception, Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times", touches on his personal life but also highlights his 12 year career as the head of IAEA.

The book is now being rushed to the shelves for early release from June to April 2011, in light of his heightened profile over his positioning as leader of the opposition to Hosni Mubarak's government.

ElBaradei, whose reign at the IAEA was at the centre of some of the most important international conflicts, including Iran, North Korea and Iraq, was instrumental in establishing a nuclear security programme to combat the risk of nuclear terrorism following 11 September 2001.

ElBaradei believed that "if governments are serious, they better ratify the CTBT" if not, he added "then we are going backwards."

Throughout his tenure at the IAEA, which ended in 2005, he warned countries of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. In a 2004 op-ed piece in the New York Times, ElBaradei called on countries to abandon the any notion that is acceptable to pursue weapons of mass destructions.

At the interview, he said "if you ever go into a nuclear war nobody will survive on the planet. I am surprised that still people cannot get this simple logic."

ElBaradei, known to be an ardent New York Knicks fan, lived in the city as a law student at New York University and eventually a diplomat at the Egyptian mission to the United Nations.

After his tenure in IAEA, he returned to Egypt in 2010 to start the National Coalition for Change which collected one million signatures demanding a new constitution and free elections.

Review copies of his upcoming book will be available on Friday, 11 February 2011.