Hans Blix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st Executive Chairman of theUnited Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission | |
| In office 1 March 2000 – 30 June 2003 | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Dimitris Perrikos |
| 3rd Director General of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency | |
| In office 1981 – 1 December 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Sigvard Eklund |
| Succeeded by | Mohamed ElBaradei |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 18 October 1978 – 12 October 1979 | |
| Monarch | Carl XVI Gustaf |
| Prime Minister | Ola Ullsten |
| Preceded by | Karin Söder |
| Succeeded by | Ola Ullsten |
| President,World Federation of United Nations Associations | |
| In office 2006 – 11 August 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Rhyl Jansen |
| Succeeded by | Park Soo-gil |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hans Martin Blix (1928-06-28)28 June 1928 (age 97) Uppsala, Sweden |
| Political party | Liberal People's Party |
| Spouse | |
| Parent(s) | Gunnar Blix Hertha Wiberg |
Hans Martin Blix (Swedish:[hɑːnsˈblɪks]ⓘ; born 28 June 1928) is aSwedish diplomat and politician for theLiberal People's Party. He wasSwedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency. Blix was the first Western representative to inspect the consequences of theChernobyl disaster in theSoviet Union on-site and led the agency's response to them. Blix was also the head of theUnited Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003, when he was succeeded byDimitris Perrikos. In 2002, the commission began searchingIraq forweapons of mass destruction, ultimately finding none. On 17 March 2003, U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush delivered an address from the White House announcing that within 48 hours, theUnited States wouldinvade Iraq unlessSaddam Hussein would leave. Bush then ordered all of the weapons inspectors, including Blix's team, to leave Iraq so that America and its allies could invade Iraq on 20 March. In February 2010, Blix became head of theUnited Arab Emirates' advisory board for itsnuclear power program. He is the former president of theWorld Federation of United Nations Associations.
Blix was born inUppsala, Sweden. He is the son of professorGunnar Blix and Hertha Wiberg, and grandson of professorMagnus Blix. He comes from a family ofJamtlandic origin. Blix studied atUppsala University andColumbia University, earning his PhD from theUniversity of Cambridge (Trinity Hall).[1] In 1959, he earned aJuris Doctor ininternational law atStockholm University, where he was appointed associate professor in international law the next year.[2] Hans Blix has two sons, Mårten and Göran, who both have doctoral degrees.[3]
Between 1962 and 1978 Blix was a member of the Swedish delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. He held several other positions in the Swedish administration between 1963 and 1976, and from 1961 to 1981, he served on the Swedish delegation to the United Nations. From 1978 to 1979, Blix was the Swedish Foreign Minister.
Blix chaired the SwedishLiberal Party's campaign during the 1980referendum on nuclear power, campaigning in favour of the retention of the Swedish nuclear energy program.
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Blix became Director General of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency between 1981 and 1997 afterSigvard Eklund.
Blix personally made repeated inspection visits to the Iraqi nuclear reactorOsiraq before its attempted destruction by theIranians, in 1980, and its eventual destruction by theIsraeli Air Force in 1981 duringOperation Opera. Although most agreed that Iraq was years away from being able to build anuclear weapon, the Iranians and the Israelis felt any raid must occur well before nuclear fuel was loaded to preventnuclear fallout. The attack was regarded as being in breach of theUnited Nations Charter (S/RES/487) and was widely condemned. Iraq was alternately praised and admonished by the IAEA for its cooperation and lack thereof. It was only after the firstGulf War that the full extent of Iraq's nuclear programs, which had switched from aplutonium-based weapon design to a highlyenriched uranium design after the destruction of Osiraq, became known.
Another significant event during his time as head of theIAEA was theChernobyl disaster on 26 April 1986, anuclear accident rated at the highest level 7 on the IAEA'sInternational Nuclear Event Scale.
During theIraq disarmament crisis before the2003 invasion of Iraq, Blix was called back from retirement by UN Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan to lead theUnited Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in charge of monitoring Iraq. Kofi Annan originally recommendedRolf Ekéus, who worked with UNSCOM in the past, butRussia and France vetoed his appointment.
Blix personally admonished Saddam for "cat and mouse" games[4] and warned Iraq of "serious consequences" if it attempted to hinder or delay his mission.[5]
In his report to theUN Security Council on 14 February 2003, Blix claimed that "so far,UNMOVIC has not found any such weapons [of mass destruction], only a small number of empty chemical munitions."[6]
In 2004 Blix stated that "there were about 700 inspections, and in no case did we find weapons of mass destruction."[7]
Blix's statements about theIraq WMD program contradicted the claims of theGeorge W. Bush administration[8] and attracted a great deal of criticism from supporters of the invasion of Iraq. In an interview onBBC 1 on 8 February 2004, Blix accused the US and British governments of dramatizing the threat ofweapons of mass destruction in Iraq to strengthen the case for the2003 war against the government ofSaddam Hussein. Ultimately, Blix was largely vindicated; the invasion failed to turn up any active WMD programs.[9]
In an interview withThe Guardian newspaper, Blix said, "I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media."[10]
In 2004, Blix published a book,Disarming Iraq, where he gives his account of the events and inspections before the coalition began its invasion.
Senior American officials ordered theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) to investigate Blix to gather "sufficient ammunition to undermine" him so that the US could start the invasion of Iraq. The American officials were upset that the CIA did not uncover such information.[11][12]
Blix said he suspected his home and office were bugged by the United States while he led teams searching for Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction.[13] Although these suspicions were never directly substantiated, evidence of a request for bugging of UN Security Council representatives around the time the US was seeking approval from the council came to light after a British government translator leaked a document "allegedly from an American National Security Agency" requesting that British intelligence put wiretaps on delegates to the UN Security Council.[14]
Since 2003 Blix has been chairman of theWeapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), an independent body funded by the Swedish government and based in Stockholm.[15]
In December 2006, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission said in a report thatPakistan's nuclear scientistAbdul Qadeer Khan could not have acted alone when passing on nuclear data and designs "without the awareness of the Pakistan government."[16]
In 2006 Hans Blix was elected president of theWorld Federation of United Nations Associations at its 38th Plenary Assembly.
In 2009 Blix joined the projectSoldiers of Peace, ananti-war film.[17][18]
Blix chairs a panel of advisors who oversee the establishment of the UAE's Dh150 billionatomic energy programme. He leads the nine-person board,[19] which meets twice a year.[20] The International Advisory Board (IAB) oversees the progress of the nation's nuclear energy plan and issues reports on potential improvements to the scheme.[21]
H. M. The King's Medal, 12th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn around the neck on the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (1998)[22]
Illis quorum (2018)[23]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (1997)[24]
Commander of theLegion of Honour (2004)Seraphim Medal (2004)[25]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs 1978–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Director General of the IAEA 1981–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | Executive Chairman of the UNMOVIC 2000–2003 | Succeeded by |