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Is new UN chief nuclear watchdog a vassal of USA?

Mr. Amano then is described as saying that “he was solidly in the U.S. court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.”

U.N. Nuclear Official Denies He Takes Orders From U.S. – WSJ.com, By JAY SOLOMON, 3 Dec 10, VIENNA—The chief of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog pushed back against charges he takes his orders from the U.S., as the leaks of secret State Department cables continue to rankle the world’s diplomatic corps.

WikiLeaks’ exposure of internal U.S. correspondence at the International Atomic Energy Agency is particularly worrying to U.S. and U.N. officials, as it plays into the narrative being pressed by Iran and Syria that the IAEA isn’t a neutral body……..
In recent days, the Website WikiLeaks released three cables written out of the U.S. mission at the IAEA that detail the Obama administration’s discussions with Mr. Amano in the months before he formally took up his post in December 2009.

U.S. officials describe in the correspondence their efforts to shape a more favorable environment at the IAEA following a decade of often contentious American relations with the agency’s former chief, Mohamed ElBaradei. These diplomats specifically express their optimism that Mr. Amano appeared to be appointing senior staff willing to take a tougher line on Iran and support other U.S. positions.

“The IAEA transition that will come as DG ElBaradei’s term ends November 30 provides a once-a-decade opportunity to overcome bureaucratic inertia,” the U.S. mission’s then No. 2 diplomat, Geoffrey Pyatt, wrote on July 7, 2009.

In a December 2009 cable, the U.S.’s current ambassador to the IAEA, Glyn Davies, describes a meeting with Mr. Amano where the career Japanese diplomat thanked Washington for supporting his candidacy for the IAEA post. Mr. Amano then is described as saying that “he was solidly in the U.S. court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.”

December 4, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties