VIENNA - The UN atomic agency put off, probably until June, voting on its new director general, with incumbent Mohamed ElBaradei the only candidate, diplomats said Wednesday.
The United States opposes ElBaradei staying in office for a third four-year term, although he has wide support on the the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is meeting in Vienna this week.
The United States wants ElBaradei replaced at the crucial Vienna-based agency since it feels he is not tough enough against Iran which Washington accuses of hiding a covert nuclear weapons program, diplomats said.
Washington officially says it opposes ElBaradei, a former Egyptian diplomat who has run the IAEA since 1997, arguing that agency heads should not serve more than two terms in line with a policy set by a Geneva group of top 10 contributors to UN organizations.
Board chairwoman Ingrid Hall, Canada's IAEA ambassador, reported to the board Wednesday that "ElBaradei has strong and broad support but more time is needed to take a decision," a Western diplomat said.
The diplomat said the "board is waiting for the United States to accept that there is only one candidate and that he has the board's backing."
The next board meeting is in June but some diplomats said a special meeting should be convened before then to resolve the issue of the succession of ElBaradei, whose terms expires in November.
03/02/2005 17:16 GMT