Blix has headed UNMOVIC since January 2000. From 1981 until 1997, he served as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But critics note that it was during this time as head of the IAEA that Iraq covertly developed its weapons of mass destruction [WMD] program, including, reportedly, an aggressive nuclear effort.

Blix was born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1928. He studied first at the University of Uppsala, then at Columbia University in the U.S. before receiving his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in England. He earned a doctorate in law at Stockholm University in 1959, where he served as a professor of international law.

From 1963 to 1976, he served in the Swedish foreign ministry, and in 1978 became that country's minister for foreign affairs. And from 1962 to 1978, he was a member of the Swedish delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. He was also a member of Sweden's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly for twenty years, from 1961 until 1981.

Blix received an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University in 1987 and the Henry de Wolf Smyth Award in 1988. In 1997, the Uranium Institute, the predecessor to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), awarded Blix the Gold Medal for distinguished service in the field of nuclear affairs. In 2001, he became Honorary Chairman of the WNA.

-- By Raven Tyler, Online NewsHour