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  State Department spokesman Richard Boucher cited as the sole U.S. reason for trying to remove him an informal agreement among 14 countries that heads of U.N. and other international bodies should serve no more than two terms.

"There is nothing exciting, there is nothing dramatic about it," Boucher said Monday.

The Washington Post said Sunday that the administration had dozens of intercepts of ElBaradei's telephone calls with Iranian diplomats and was scrutinizing them for information to support his ouster.

ElBaradei reported progress in U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq last year while the administration was trying to rally U.N. support for the war that overthrew President Saddam Hussein.

Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed the report of progress at the time as "all process, not substance."

ElBaradei is pursuing a measured approach to Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

Boucher's account avoided suggesting any U.S. dissatisfaction with the 62-year-old former international lawyer.

"Our view has always been two terms is enough," he said. Other countries in the so-called Geneva group share in that general policy, he said.

Daryl Kimball, president of the private Arms Control Association, said that the two-term stance was not "written in stone" and that the administration was irritated with ElBaradei, whose main job is monitoring the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

More than 180 countries have signed the treaty, which serves as a cornerstone in efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

"Key states do not agree with the U.S. that it is time for ElBaradei, who has been fair but tough, to depart the scene," Kimball said in an interview.

"He has done a good job, and the agency has been aggressive" in promoting compliance with the treaty, Kimball said.

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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