He is typical of the Egyptian character that has been formed through thousands of years with its Pharaonic, Arab, African and  Mediterranean   roots.

 

 Such a character hails life and hates violence and destruction. He is a tolerant character... a character that is ever seeking to interact with others...  A character  that derived its clarity, stability and continuous flow from the River Nile. He is the son of  Egypt's civilization. Egypt, along its history, that offered humanity,  the givings  of her scholars, innovators, men of letters and intellectuals.

 

 He is Dr. Mohammad Al-Baradei who wrote down a new story of success and giving to the Egyptian character and added a new pearl in the necklace of the Egyptian Nobel Laureates.

 

Such prize became synonymous with humanity and interconnection among mankind everywhere along with their persistence to make life on earth more secure and stable and their repudiation to the advocates of death and destruction.

 

On Friday, October 7, 2005, Nobel train made a stop on the Nile bank for the fourth time in 27 years to declare one of Egypt's greatest sons, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa Al-Baradei, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a co-winner with the IAEA. Al-Baradei won this prize among 199 candidates to be one of the Egyptian Nobel Laureates who are: Late President Anwar  As-Sadat, the Nobel  Peace Laureate (1978), the distinguished Novelist; Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Literature Laureate (1988), and the competent Scientist; Ahmad  Zeweil, the Nobel Chemistry Laureate (1999).

 

The Nobel prize donor committee declared that its decision to grant the IAEA and its director the prize comes in appreciation of their efforts to prohibit the usage of nuclear energy for military purposes and to ensure that the usage of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is happening in the most possible secure methods.

 

On his part, Al-Baradei said that he believed that the prize would strengthen his determination and help solve some of the big issues that IAEA was facing.

 

Egypt has expressed its pleasure and pride for granting such a prize to the IAEA and its director.

 

 Furthermore, a statement by the Egyptian Presidency of the Republic declared that Al-Baradei is one of Egypt's most competent experts in disarmament issues. It added that this wise selection of the committee asserts the important role of the IAEA in facing the hazards of nuclear weapons on the international peace and security, and stresses on the dire need to continue the efforts of the IAEA in nuclear weapon disarmament, and realize the universality and abide by the provisions of the "Non-proliferation Treaty".

 

In the same context, President Mubarak made a phone call to Dr. Mohammad Al-Baradei to cable congratulate him. During the ceremony held in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on December 10, 2005, on the occasion of awarding the Nobel Prize, Dr. Al-Baradei asked to intensify the international efforts to ban nuclear weapons tantamount to abolishing slavery or preventing genocide.

 

 He also said that he felt proud that an Arab Moslem person was granted the biggest international prize for peace and expressed his sorrow about the image distortion  of the pan-Arab and Muslim nation in the west and the claim that they did not contribute to the progress of humanity. Furthermore, as regards the depressions of the Arab world as a result of the double standards, he said that all Arab countries had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP), so Israel should also accede to this treaty, stressing the necessity that there should be a kind of balance.

 

Although Al-Baradei was born in Al-Mesaha District, Dokki, Cairo, on June 17, 1942, his roots belong to Abiar Village, Karf Az-Zayyat, Al-Gharbia Governorate, the same village of Sheikh Abd Ar-Rahman Al-Gabarti, the famous French Expedition historian. Furthermore, his father was the village representative to the Ummah (Nation) Council. His love to the study of law was attributed to his father who was president of the Bar Association. Since his early youth, Al-Baradei was attracted to the books in his father's library.

 

 He read in literature, science and general knowledge, but most of his readings were in law, in which he lately majored.

 

About this legal trend, Al-Baradei says: “It seems we are a family that inherits law. I loved it thanks to my father who was my ideal in life. He encouraged me to read his books and join the Faculty of Law afterwards. My daughter Laila also studied Law in Britain. It seems it is the hereditary line in the family”.

 

Al-Baradei is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, Cairo University, 1962. He started to work at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in 1964,  Organization  Department, which was then chaired by Ismael Fahmy. He succeeded in his work as a legal expert and a rational diplomat, and gained the confidence of his director.

 

 Al-Baradei assumed various posts until he got the chance to join the Egyptian mission to New York, where he completed his post-graduate studies while working.  After being awarded the Ph.D. from the USA, Al-Baradei returned to Egypt in 1974 to work as an assistant to the then Foreign Minister, Ismael Fahmy, due to his early trust he had with him.

 

 His new job gave him opportunities to attend international conferences, important negotiations and protocols till 1978. Moreover,  he was delegated in Egypt's permanent missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. He also worked as a professor in the Law School, New York University.

 

In 1980, Al-Baradei became in charge of the International Law Programme in the United Nations, and joined the IAEA in 1984 leaving the Foreign Ministry voluntarily. He says about this step: “I did not leave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to any differences, I just wanted to expand the limits of the role I play: from a defender of the interests of my smaller country to a defender of the interests of the whole bigger world. The international post is a great honour to any citizen who occupies an important local position.”

 

In 1993, Al-Baradei became an Assistant General Director for foreign relations, until he was appointed in his recent post for the first time in 1997 after winning 33 votes out of a total number of votes that amount to 34 - an overwhelming majority - in a secret ballot of the IAEA executive authority. Furthermore, upon winning the chairmanship, the Austrian ‘News” Magazine said that he embodied the hope in reforming the IAEA administration methodology

Dr. Al-Baradei  is a member in a number of professional syndicates such as the international law syndicate and the American Association for International Law.

Despite his heavy burdens, Al-Baradei is always armed with optimism and hope. He also plays sports that help him shoulder the burdens of his job. In his youth he won championships in squash and he is still keen on playing golf till our present time.

 

He believes that his wife, Mrs. Aida Al-Kashef, plays an important role in his success. He says that he had met his wife in 1975 in the Egyptian Diplomatic Club in a wedding of an ambassador.

 

 His wife is a graduate of the American University in Cairo (AUC) and she has the M.A. in Education. He says that he spends his best times with her away from the burdens of his hard work.

 

 “Without my wife, I would have never reached this elevated post.” says Al-Baradei. Although she has an M.A. in Education, she accepted to remain as a housewife for years to look after the house and raise our children, Mustafa and Laila.

 

 Without a rational wife who understands the nature of my work that imposes a great deal of travelling, stability would have never been realized at home. But after our children have grown up and travelled to Britain where Mustafa is studying bio-Technology and Sound-Engineering, and Laila is studying law, it is possible now for my wife to combine the house requirements and her work as a kindergarten teacher in Vienna. It makes me very happy to see my wife satisfied with her life, it is her simple right”, he added.

 

On September 27, 1997, Dr. Al-Baradei celebrated with his wife in Vienna the occasion of being elected, for the first time, the IAEA Director for a four-year term after the Swede Hanz Blix, the former Director of the United Nations Monitor, Verification and Inspection Committee in Iraq (UNMOVIC).

 

 He is the first Egyptian and Arab person to occupy this distinguished position.

About his job as the Director of the IAEA, he says:" My work is very hard. It deprives me from staying with my wife and children, therefore, I am always keen to spend my weekend in a complete rest with my family and attend the classical musical concerts”.

 

Besides his calmness and extreme cleverness, especially while dealing with the mass media, Al-Baradei is always proud of his Egyptian-Arab belonging.

 

 His assistants say that he is good at assigning missions without forgetting that eventually, he has to take hard decisions. Furthermore he says, “ I never expected to be the IAEA director. Luck and success served me and I seized the chances I had”.

 

Al-Baradei  also enjoys a great reputation in the international diplomatic  circles. Inspectors   consider him a symbol of calmness while dealing with crises. Moreover, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan, considers him one of the best scholars who presided the IAEA as he is characterized by a wide vision and an ability to analyze facts and read the future.

 

Al-Baradei believes that the hardest problem he faces is harmonizing the contradicting interests of all states at the same time without being biased towards one country at the expense of another. Thus, he believes that one should be armed with tolerance in facing hardships to ensure total objectivity and neutrality.