VIENNA (AFP) — Japan urged the IAEA's 145 member countries on Monday to vote for its own candidate when the agency's top job becomes vacant next year.
Speaking to the International Atomic Energy Agency on the first day of the UN atomic watchdog's general conference here, the Japanese government's special envoy Matsuda Iwao asked delegates "to support Ambassador Yukiya Amano for the post of the next director general of the agency."
Tokyo announced last Friday that it had nominated 61-year-old Amano, Japan's current ambassador to the IAEA and other UN organisations in Vienna, to succeed agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei when he steps down in November 2009.
"I truly believe that Ambassador Amano is best suited to take on the role and responsibilities of the director general, as he has accomplished remarkable achievements and proven his competence in the areas of the peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation," Iwao said.
"Expressing our firm conviction that Ambassador Amano will bring further development to the agency, I would like to ask all the member states of the IAEA to support Ambassador Yukiya Amano."
ElBaradei has headed the watchdog since 1997, but recently announced that he would not seek re-election when his current term, his third, expires on November 30, 2009.
Only two official candidates have stepped forward so far: Amano and South Africa's ambassador, Abdul Samad Minty.
There has also been speculation that IAEA's current number two, Olli Heinonen, will also stand. And diplomats have suggested that Rogelio Pfirter, the Argentinian head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague, could be a possible candidate as well.
The IAEA's 35-member board will not discuss ElBaradei's successor until a special one-day meeting on October 6.
There, the board of governors will be asked to approve the rules of procedure for the appointment of a new director general, effectively firing the starting gun for the succession race.
The closing date for applications looks set to be December 31, 2008, with ElBaradei's successor to be appointed in June 2009 "at the latest".
That appointment will then be put to next year's general conference for final approval.
ElBaradei, 66, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work at the IAEA in 2005, is the watchdog's fourth chief since it was set up in 1957.
The first was an American, Sterling Cole, who served from 1957-61, and the next two director generals were both Swedes -- Sigvard Eklund (1961-1981) and Hans Blix (1981-1997).
Under ElBaradei, the IAEA has verified the shutdown of nuclear weapons programmes of Libya and North Korea and is currently investigating allegations of illicit nuclear work by Iran and Syria.
But ElBaradei has come under fire, not least from the United States, among critics who say he has been too lenient with Iran.
The strong stance on nuclear disarmament of the countries of both South Africa's Minty and Japan's Amano could make it hard for Washington to support either of them.
South African ambassador Minty, who has been Pretoria's representative to the IAEA board since 1995, is well-known for his vocal advocacy of nuclear disarmament.
Japan's Amano has held senior positions related to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in the Japanese foreign ministry.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
