ElBaradei, IAEA receive Nobel Peace Prize (Agencies) Updated: 2005-12-11 08:52
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei
received the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday for their work to prevent the spread
of nuclear arms and promote the safe use of atomic power.
ElBaradei and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the IAEA, Yukiya
Amano, received gold medals and Nobel diplomas at a ceremony at Oslo City Hall
to applause from about 1,000 guests.
They will share 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.25 million), which accompanies
the award established by Swedish philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
The world must abandon nuclear weapons
OSLO, Norway (AP) _ Nuclear watchdog agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei warned
Saturday in accepting the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize that humanity faces a choice
between nuclear weapons and survival.
ElBaradei shared the coveted award with his International Atomic Energy
Agency _ cited for their drive to control the spread of nuclear weapons,
especially to terrorists.
"I have no doubt that if we hope to escape self-destruction, then nuclear
weapons should have no place in our collective conscience, and no role in our
security," ElBaradei said in his acceptance speech.
The 63-year-old Egyptian and the IAEA's Board of Governors Chairman Yukiya
Amano, from Japan, accepted the award 60 years after the 1945 atomic bombings of
the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Six decades later and 15 years after the end of the Cold War, the threat of
nuclear nightmare remains strong, ElBaradei said. The world community is deeply
concerned about possible atomic weapons programs in Iran and North Korea, and
terrorists' increasingly sophisticated efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.
"The Nobel Peace Prize is a powerful message," ElBaradei said. "A durable
peace is not a single achievement, but an environment, a process and a
commitment."
He said the world's security strategies have not caught up with the risk it
is facing.
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