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CND in the News
CND in the News: 1-7 October 2005
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1 Stevenage Peace Fair
Stevenage Herald, 5 October 2005
http://www.stevenageherald.co.uk
A VARIETY of groups came together for the second Stevenage Peace Fair.
Groups including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament were among the organisations which had stalls
at Saturday's event at the Friends' Meeting House in Cuttys Lane. Spokesman
Steve Whiting said: "There are many groups in the Stevenage area
working to make the world a better place and last year we thought it a
good idea to bring them together for an open day. It was successful beyond
our expectations and so we did it again
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2 Nuclear arms watchdog pips Bob and Bono to peace prize
Evening News, Fri 7 Oct 2005
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2055052005
BONO and Sir Bob Geldof lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize today after
it was given to the chief of the world's nuclear watchdog. The U2 frontman
and former Boomtown Rats singer had been among a record 199 names put
forward for the world's most prestigious prize. The Irish pair were widely
tipped to pick up the award for their lengthy campaigns to ease hunger
and poverty in Africa.
Geldof was among 37 people selected by Time magazine as its 2005 European
Heroes for organising the Live 8 concerts, and joining forces with U2's
Bono to call on people to march on the G8 summit.
But the surprise winners today were the International Atomic Energy Agency
and its chief, Mohamed El Baradei.
The prize will be shared by the two "for their efforts to prevent
nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way."
The news prompted a flood of calls of congratulations from world leaders,
including Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Nobel Peace Prize winners
and nuclear campaigners.
Speaking immediately after the announcement, Mr El Baradei's wife Aida,
said: "I'm overwhelmed and overjoyed and just so proud of him, and
I think it's really a good thing that the spotlight has been put on one
of the most terrible issues that all of humanity faces."
In Vienna, where the agency is based, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Flemming
said: "This is the proudest moment of my career at the IAEA. I never
thought we'd see this day. This is the proudest day for the IAEA. We are
proud, astonished, elated. For an organisation like us there is no prouder
award."
Tony Blair said El Baradei's honour was "well deserved and very important",
and showed the significance that is attached to the work the IAEA does.
And former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, a Peace Prize winner in
1990, added: "It is a worthy reward for his efforts over many years.
He is a man who does his job solidly and responsibly."
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament UK,
said the IAEA and El Baradei have a reputation for "scrupulous fairness".
She said: "El Baradei's observations always seem to be well-judged
and based on fact. "He will be best remembered for his independent
position on the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, where he
said to his best knowledge there were no weapons in Iraq. For him to come
out and say that given the international pressure was a shining example
of his objectivity."
El Baradei, an Egyptian lawyer, has headed the UN nuclear agency as it
grappled with the crises in Iraq, North Korea and Iran. The diplomat has
led the IAEA during its transition from a nondescript bureaucracy monitoring
nuclear sites worldwide to a pivotal institution at the forefront of disarmament
efforts.
Austere and methodical, he has taken a sometimes strident line while guiding
the agency through the most serious troubles it has faced since the end
of the Cold War. He accused North Korea of "nuclear brinkmanship"
in December 2002 after it expelled two inspectors monitoring a mothballed
nuclear complex. He said at the time: "I'm calling a spade a spade.
I see a very serious crisis - a country that's completely defying the
world."
He also directed the agency as it launched inspections in Iraq alongside
the hunt for biological and chemical agents conducted by the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission. Most recently, it is his focus
on Iran - and efforts to establish whether that country has a secret nuclear
weapons program - that has kept him in the limelight.
El Baradei has had to contend with US opposition to his tenure over claims
from Washington that he was being too soft on Iran, but that ended formally
last month when IAEA member nations formally approved his reappointment
for a third term
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