The awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its (Mr Potato) Head, Mohammed El-Baradei, can be called a lot of things, such as a disgrace, complete joke, and politically-motivated sideshow.
According to the Egyptian Press, it can also be called a warning to the United States and Israel.
Several Egyptian newspapers asserted that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the UN nuclear watchdog and its head, Mohamed ElBaradei, constituted a warning to the United States and Israel.“By handing the prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its boss, the Nobel committee wanted to send a message to the entire world that nuclear weapons were and still are a threat to the whole of humanity and need to be opposed by any means,” the state-owned Al-Ahram daily said.“The specific choice of ElBaradei is an implicit message, notably to the United States and Israel,” the top-selling newspaper went on, quoting the Nobel committee as describing the laureate as “unafraid” in his advocacy of new measures to prevent nuclear proliferation.The independent Al-Masri Al-Yom entitled one its editorial “ElBaradei, the embodiment of impartiality”.“Despite his placid character, the man is solid … and while subjected to intense pressure, notably from the United States and Arab commentators, he pressed on without making any concessions, displaying true professionalism and commitment,” editorialist Alaa al-Ghatrifi wrote.“His impartiality on all issues earned him huge popularity on the board” of the agency, he explained.
Of course, the Egyptian newspapers are beaming with pride since
ElBaradei, 63, received his prize on Friday and became the fourth Egyptian Nobel laureate in history.
I assume they are counting President Anwar Sadat, writer Naguib Mahfouz and physicist Ahmed Zeweil as the previous three recipients. But in actual fact, they have missed out one other Egyptian Nobel laureate.
