The UN nuclear watchdog and its head Mohamed ElBaradei, who clashed with Washington over Iraq, won the Nobel Peace Prize today for fighting the spread of nuclear weapons.
The Nobel Committee
The Nobel Committee praised the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and ElBaradei, a 63-year-old Egyptian, for their battle to stop states and terrorists acquiring the atom bomb, and to ensure safe civilian use of nuclear energy.
In Vienna, ElBaradei said the $1.3 million Nobel award, widely viewed as the world's top accolade, would give him and his agency a much needed "shot in the arm" as they tackle nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea.
ElBaradei said he had been sure he would not win because he had not received a traditional advance telephone call from the Committee, worried by media leaks. He learnt of his win at home while watching television with his wife, Aida.
He said he jumped to his feet and hugged and kissed her in celebration. The Vienna-based IAEA had been a favourite from a list of 199 Nobel candidates in a year marking 60 years since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The Nobel Committee expressed hope that the award would spur work to outlaw atomic weapons.
"At a time when disarmament efforts appear deadlocked, when there is a danger that nuclear arms will spread both to states and to terrorist groups, and when nuclear power again appears to be playing an increasingly significant role, IAEA's work is of incalculable importance," it said in a statement.
Despite past differences, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned to congratulate ElBaradei and plaudits came from world leaders like Britain's Tony Blair and France's Jacques Chirac, who said he was "delighted".
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the 2001 peace laureate, said it should be a wake-up call to the perils of nuclear war.
At last month's UN summit "We couldn't even agree on a paragraph on non-proliferation or disarmament. It was a disgrace. I hope that this award will wake us all up," he said.
The IAEA has had little success in standoffs with Iran and North Korea and ElBaradei has faced criticism from many quarters, most recently from both the United States and Iran in his efforts to investigate Tehran's nuclear programme.
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