Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog and a Nobel peace prize winner, has cancelled planned interviews with the BBC in protest at the corporation's decision not to air a humanitarian appeal for Gaza.

In a statement issued to the Guardian, ElBaradei unleashed a stinging denunciation of the BBC that deepens the damage already inflicted by the Gaza row.
The statement from his office at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the BBC management decision not to air the aid appeal for victims of the fighting ""violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people irrespective of who is right or wrong"".
According to the statement, the IAEA director had cancelled interviews with BBC World Service television and radio, which had been scheduled to take place on Saturday at the World Economic Forum at Davos.
A BBC spokesman said: ""We regret that Mr. ElBaradei was not able to participate in an interview with the BBC while he is at Davos. Our audience around the world remains interested in what he has to say about a range of topics and we hope he will accept an invitation at another time.""
Elbaradei, an Egyptian lawyer, is due to leave his post as IAEA director general in November. He won acclaim for his scepticism over western claims that Saddam Hussein was attempting to develop nuclear weapons, and his public opposition to the invasion. He and the IAEA won the Nobel peace prize in 2005.
Officials in his office said it was unclear how long ElBaradei's BBC boycott would last. A spokeswoman said she expected him to review his position in light of how the BBC resolved the row.
Both the BBC and Sky decided not to air an appeal from the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of non-governmental humanitarian agencies, for aid for victims of the recent conflict in Gaza.
The appeal was broadcast by ITV, Channel 4, and Channel Five last night and was watched by a combined audience of 4.5 million.
At the beginning of the broadcast, a voiceover said: ""This is not about the rights and wrongs of the conflict, these people simply need your help.""
The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, said the appeal was not broadcast because it would have damaged the impartiality of the corporations coverage of the conflict.
(Source: guardian.co.uk)