IAEA chief sets out nuke-free vision, cites Obama

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VIENNA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief called for a huge cut in U.S. and Russian atom bomb stocks in setting out a world vision he said drew momentum from new U.S. President Barack Obama.

Mohamed ElBaradei, citing new U.S. President Barack Obama's public commitment to the goal of eliminating nuclear arms, said in a commentary to be published on Wednesday that there was a growing sense this was no longer a "utopian ideal" if major political, diplomatic and technical changes were made.

"I am greatly encouraged that President Obama has made a firm commitment to making the elimination of all nuclear weapons a central tenet of his policies," ElBaradei said in a commentary to appear in editions of Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.

"What do we need to do as an international community to build on the new momentum?" he asked.

The U.S. and Russia should revive disarmament negotiations with the goal of reducing the number of nuclear warheads worldwide from the current 27,000 to between 500 and 1,000, ElBaradei said . . .


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