Ex-Slovenian envoy bows out of IAEA leadership race

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - A top Slovenian judge dropped out of the race to succeed U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Tuesday, two days ahead of an election diplomats fear could be inconclusive like an earlier vote in March.

The governing body of the International Atomic Energy Agency has been struggling to agree on a new chief as it faces the spreading spectre of nations gaining nuclear arms capability, especially Iran.

Ernest Petric said his campaign looked pointless after he finished last out of five candidates in a June 9 straw poll and he was bowing out to help the hunt for a consensus candidate.

But he said no one in the remaining field looked capable of winning a 2/3 majority in the IAEA's governing board and bridging a split between developing and industrialized nations over nuclear priorities.

"I will be notifying the chairman of the (35-nation) board today that I am retreating from this election process," said Petric, a constitutional judge and former Slovenian ambassador on the board who chaired the Vienna-based body in 2006-07.

"I want to make it easier for a candidate acceptable to the great majority of the board to emerge. But I am worried it won't happen again this week. We are not moving in the direction of consensus," he told Reuters.

Thursday's closed-door election will be the second since March, when Japanese IAEA Ambassador Yukiya Amano fell a single vote short of the 24 needed for victory.

Amano remains the frontrunner but his backing slid to 20 in the straw poll. His March rival, South African IAEA governor Abdul Samad Minty, took 11, while a European newcomer, Luis Echavarri, got four votes and two others none at all.