VIENNA - The UN atomic agency is to meet on April 27 to decide on its next director general, with current chief Mohamed ElBaradei currently the only candidate, according to a confidential agency document obtained by AFP Tuesday.
The notification was made Tuesday by Canadian ambassador and current chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors Ingrid Hall to all IAEA members.
The United States strongly opposes what would be a third four-year term for ElBaradei because it finds him not tough enough toward Iran which Washington accuses of hiding a covert nuclear weapons program, diplomats said.
But the former Egyptian diplomat has wide support on the 35-nation board of governors.
Washington justifies its stance against ElBaradei, who has run the IAEA since 1997, on the grounds 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.
But Hall had told an IAEA board meeting in March that "ElBaradei has strong and broad support," according to a Western diplomat.
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."
ElBaradei's current term expires in November. Any board decision on his successor would have to be ratified by a meeting of the full IAEA in September in Vienna.
Hall has received letters from Argentina, Algeria on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, Latin American and Caribbean states as well as African states in support of ElBaradei, according to copies of the letters obtained by AFP.
Hall said in her statement Tuesday that the April 27 board meeting was being held "as requested by the Group of 77 and China."
A Western diplomat said this would be "to discuss the appointment of the Director General."
04/05/2005 15:39 GMT