Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I met Dr. El Baradei on 16 February. Dr. El Baradei, who also met the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government separately on the same day, was in Dublin to receive an honorary patronage of the Trinity College Philosophical Society. In the course of our meeting, I raised a number of issues in Dr. El Baradei's particular area of responsibility, including recent developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK, the Iranian nuclear programme, and the United States-India civil nuclear co-operation agreement.

On the DPRK, we both welcomed the agreement addressing its nuclear programme reached earlier that week at the six-party talks in Beijing. This positive development is of particular importance to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, whose inspectors will now be able to return to North Korea's nuclear facilities after a prolonged absence to carry out their vital monitoring and inspection work. Dr. El Baradei was recently in the DPRK to discuss the practicality of implementing the agreement. He indicated subsequently that the visit had been useful and had opened the way to a normal relationship.

In regard to Iran, Dr. El Baradei's visit was particularly timely as it came one week before the issuing of his report on Iran in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737. During our meeting he shared his perceptions of the main outstanding issues with respect to the Iranian nuclear programme and his sense of how the process was developing and what lay ahead. We agreed on the importance of a negotiated solution to this issue and, in this connection, he referred to his own proposal for a time-out or double suspension as a possible way of enabling the commencement of negotiations with Iran. Dr. El Baradei subsequently issued his report confirming Iran's failure to comply with Resolution 1737, and it is anticipated that the Security Council will adopt a follow-up resolution in the near future.

I shared my concerns about the potential impact of the United States-India civil nuclear co-operation agreement on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, NPT, and the disarmament and non-proliferation regime it established. Dr. El Baradei gave his perception, which was somewhat more positive, focusing on the developmental and environmental aspects of the deal. These views are in line with his previous public comments on this matter. The negotiation of an Indian safeguards agreement with the IAEA is one of the further steps required before the United States-India deal can be implemented. These negotiations, however, have yet to begin.

In sum, the meeting offered a valuable opportunity for an exchange of views on some of the more significant and topical issues in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation.

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