As director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he leads the global effort to uncover nuclear threats to world peace, a task that involves juggling often competing national interests.

The United States, for instance, would like to see the IAEA crack down harder on Iran for what Washington says is a covert nuclear weapons program but ElBaradei insists that its investigation of the Islamic republic needs time.

Since winning the top job at the Vienna-based IAEA in 1997, ElBaradei, 62, has been at the center of non-proliferation issues concerning the three states US President George W. Bush has labeled the axis of evil -- Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein, Iran and North Korea.

His IAEA was a key player in the build-up to the US-led war against Iraq in 2003. ElBaradei pleaded at the United Nations for more time for inspections.

Washington was unwilling to wait, but has been embarrassed since then by revelations that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction.

A similar conflict has shaped up over Iran.

ElBaradei urges the international community not to jump to conclusions, but the United States says the IAEA is giving Iran a chance to stall and buy time for building a bomb.

"Verification and diplomacy, used in conjunction, can be effective," ElBaradei has said.

"When inspections are accompanied by adequate authority, aided by all available information, backed by a credible compliance mechanism, and supported by international consensus, the verification system works," ElBaradei said.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said reconciling the interests of the agency's 137 member states would be "impossible without ElBaradei's leadership."

"He provides a vision. He often reminds countries of their responsibilities in a way that makes it seem not only like a legal obligation but a moral responsibility," Fleming said.

Born on June 17, 1942 in Egypt, ElBaradei, now married with two children, has been at the IAEA for two decades.

ElBaradei studied law in Cairo before going on to New York University, where he later taught.

He started out at the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs in 1964 and then went to the United Nations as a member of Egypt's permanent mission, both in New York and Geneva.

In 1984, he joined the IAEA as legal counsel and deputy director general for external relations.

He is seeking a third term as IAEA chief, despite opposition from the United States which wants to stick to an informal rule that the heads of international organisations do not serve more than two terms.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.