Who is new UN atomic agency leader, Yukiya Amano?
Amano said he would stick to the IAEA's technical mandate of inspections to forestall proliferation and fostering the safe use of nuclear energy for economic development and medicine. He said he would also improve communication between the IAEA inspectorate and the governors, and manage the agency better.
Amano is close to the US position on Iran. He said in a Feb 2009 interview that Iran should be treated with respect through fruitful dialogue. He praised US President Barack Obama's readiness to sit down and talk to Iran over its nuclear ambitions, after years of unproductive isolation policy by predecessor George W. Bush.
He took part in arms control talks that produced the 1995 extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the verification protocol for the 2001 Biological Weapons Convention.
Amano served as chairman of the IAEA's policy-making governing body in 2005-06 when the agency and its head, Mohamed ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Amano accepted the prize on behalf of the agency.
Amano, 62, has specialized in multilateral disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation posts and negotiations over 36 years in Japan's foreign service, with postings in Washington, Brussels, Geneva and Vientiane.
He graduated from the faculty of law at the University of Tokyo and in 1972 joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry. In 1988 he became director for research coordination and senior research fellow at Japan's Institute of International Affairs.
He is regarded as a reserved technocrat who would de-politicise the IAEA helm after 12 years of the outspoken ElBaradei.
AP
(China Daily 07/03/2009 page16)
