[JURIST] Mohamed ElBaradei [official profile], Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website], Monday called for the start of negotiations [statement] on the long-stalled Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty [FAS backgrounder], a global treaty banning the further production of nuclear materials such as weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. ElBaradei, presenting the IAEA's annual report [text] to the UN General Assembly, said he was disappointed that neither the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) [PDF text] review conference nor the UN's 2005 World Summit [official website] resulted in an agreement on how to promote nuclear disarmament. ElBaradei cited as a top priority his aim to convince North Korea to return to the NPT regime. North Korea [IAEA materials] has pulled out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and declared it has nuclear bombs, but has said it would likely return to the treaty [JURIST report] if the US stops making threats against the country. Reuters has more.

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