US agents use phone taps in bid to unseat ElBaradei by Rupert Cornwell

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The leader of the campaign to get rid of him is understood to be John Bolton, the hardline under-secretary of state for arms control, whose admirers would like to see him promoted to be the deputy to Condoleezza Rice, the incoming Secretary of State. The eavesdropping is part of an apparent effort to persuade a blocking minority of the IAEA's 35-member board to oppose Dr ElBaradei's appointment to a third term when his current one expires next summer, on the grounds that he has been too soft on Iran.