Japan nominates Amano to succeed IAEA chief ElBaradei

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei (L) and the chairman of the board of governors, Yukiya Amano, sit at the beginning of a board of governors meeting in the U.N. nuclear watchdog's Vienna headquarters February 4, 2006.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Japan said on Friday it had nominated Yukiya Amano, its ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, to head the U.N. watchdog when Director Mohamed ElBaradei leaves office next year.

ElBaradei, 66, who has overseen the Vienna-based IAEA since 1997, said earlier this month he did not plan to seek a fourth term after his current mandate runs out in November 2009.

Born in 1947, Amano heads the Japanese delegation on the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors and was chairman of the policy-making body in 2005-06.

"(Amano) has, over the course of his career to date, gained substantial and far-reaching experience in the areas of non-proliferation, disarmament and nuclear energy-related matters," the Japanese mission said in a statement.

A second declared candidate for ElBaradei's job is the South African ambassador to the IAEA, Abdul Minty, his country's special representative for disarmament and a veteran of non-proliferation diplomacy.

The deadline for nominations is Dec. 31 and IAEA governors will strive to agree by consensus on who will be ElBaradei's successor by June next year.