IAEA Director General Amano passes away - statement
BERLIN. July 22 (Interfax) - IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has passed away, the international organization said in a statement on its website.
"The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency regrets to inform with deepest sadness of the passing away of Director General Yukiya Amano," the statement published on Monday said.
The IAEA Secretariat also confirmed that Amano was going to resign and published an excerpt from his letter of resignation. "During the past decade, the agency delivered concrete results to achieve the objective of Atoms for Peace and Development, thanks to the support of member states and the dedication of agency staff. I am very proud of our achievements, and grateful to member states and agency staff," it said.
Yukiya Amano was born in 1947. He graduated from the department of law at the University of Tokyo. He then studied at France's University of Besancon and University of Nice.
He started to work with the Japanese Foreign Ministry in early 1970s. He worked at Japan's embassies to Vietnam, Washington and Brussels in various years.
In 2005, he was appointed Japan's envoy to the IAEA. He took the position of IAEA director general in 2009.