PROFILE: Diplomatic Amano will be challenged as IAEA head

By Chie Matsumoto Mar 25, 2009, 12:16 GMT

   Tokyo - Yukiya Amano earned the Japan government's strong backing to head the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as its next director general, having long served as a bureaucrat.

But some fear that his years of dedication may interfere with his fair judgment as an international watchdog on nuclear matters.

   The gentle and sincere 62-year-old is renowned for his talent to resolve conflicting ideas and organize various viewpoints into appropriate decisions, said Terumi Tanaka, director of Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo).

   'Attendees reputed Amano for that,' Tanaka recently told the German Press Agency dpa as he recalled Amano's performance as chairman of the first session of the preparatory committee for the 2010 NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) Review Conference in 2005.

   In Vienna, where he works as permanent representative and ambassador to the International Organizations, Amano is known as a hard-working but not overly flexible diplomat, who gained some experience in handling the IAEA's member states when he chaired the agency's Board of Governors in 2005-06 when the UN nuclear watchdog was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Prime Minister Taro Aso offered his support by identifying Amano as having a 'long-standing career in non-proliferation, nuclear energy and disarmament.'

   Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura expressed the government's intentions to actively contribute in the non-proliferation effort.

   'We would like to stress that it is significant that Japan assumes director-general's post,' Kawamura said.

   Japanese people like Tanaka hope that Amano would stand firm against nuclear proliferation while also representing the voices of the people in the only country that suffered devastation by atomic bombs.

   'As one of the atomic-bomb survivors, I'd hope Amano would convey our voices and reflect our hopes sufficiently in IAEA policies,' Tanaka said.

   He is not alone in being concerned whether Amano's tendency to support the government's objectives, which are formed within the US nuclear policy, would continue to influence him if he were to replace outspoken Egyptian Director General Mohamed ElBaradei at the helm of the IAEA.

   The technocrat, who vowed to stick to the IAEA's technical mandate of inspections and improve the organization's management, appears to have the support of many industrialized nations.

However, his support of a tough approach against Iran and Japan's unwavering support of the US on the issue has given rise to hesitation among other member states.

It remains unclear whether Amano, while front-runner in the campaign, will receive the necessary two-thirds majority against South African candidate Abdul Samad Minty, who is backed mainly by developing countries.

   Amano seems to regard the directorship as less a political position than both ElBaradei and Minty apparently do.

The Japanese nominee's background of service in the ministry since 1972 and in its disarmament division as a deputy director 10 years later had helped him find a life's vocation.

   'I could feel that I was doing something good and I also could feel that I am useful for my government and that was a great satisfaction for me,' Amano was once quoted as saying.

   In a speech to the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting earlier this month he said he was well aware that scientific advancement would cause catastrophe when used as a destructive weapon.

   'Technology, if employed properly, can facilitate and advance the agency's activities in all areas, ranging from technical activities to verification and even to management,' Amano said.

   The key component to success is 'a better use of science and technology,' he added.