ElBaradei to Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament

New Delhi, Nov 19 (UNI) Dr Mohammad ElBaradei, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been selected for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2008.

The decision to confer him the award was taken by the International Jury of the Prize, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

''As Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Dr ElBaradei has been outspoken on nuclear proliferation and international security issues,''said Suman Dubey, secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust which gives the Prize.

He has led the IAEA, an inter-governmental organization under the auspices of the United Nations, in carving out an independent approach free from bias and reflective of a wider balanced perspective in tune with today's world, Dubey said in a statement.

ElBaradei, a lawyer by training, began his career in the Egyptian Diplomatic Service in 1964 and served in the UN both in New York and Geneva.

Between 1974 and 1978, he was a Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Egypt. Since then he has been participating in the activities of international organisations within and outside the UN systems.

He has held his present position at the IAEA since 1997, having been re-appointed for a third term in September 2005.

Earlier, ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

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