I have nothing to hide, says IAEA chief

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The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El Baradei, says any US monitoring of his telephone calls would be a violation of his privacy but he has nothing to hide.

Commenting on reports that US officials had tapped his phone conversations with Iranian officials, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief told Al Arabiya television that he had no secrets to conceal.

"Unfortunately if this is true, this is a breach of individual freedoms and rights of privacy and more importantly the right of international organisations to work independently," Mr El Baradei said. "However if anyone wants to listen in, then listen in. I don't have anything to hide."

Ignoring Washington's opposition, Mr El Baradei recently announced he would run for a third term as director general of the IAEA. He has held the post since 1997 and is up for re-election next year. "I decided to continue my work because countries came up to me asking that I continue. This means they agree with my policies which are based on neutrality and independence," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1268942.htm

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1. Can we run an Annan-El Baradei ticket in '08?

I like these guys.

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2. Remember, his was the IAEA that helped expose the Niger forgery

I believe it took them a few hours--the documents made reference to a system of government no longer in existence and childish forgeries of various signatures, etc.