Japan's Amano elected as IAEA chief

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VIENNA, July 2 Kyodo -
Yukiya Amano, Japan's ambassador to the permanent Mission to the International
Organizations in Vienna, was elected as next director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday.
Amano, 62, won against Abdul Samad Minty from South Africa after a total of six
voting rounds.
''I am very pleased with this support,'' Amano told journalists after the final
vote, adding that as the next director general he will do his utmost to enhance
the welfare of human beings, ensure sustainable development through the
peaceful use of nuclear energy, and try to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons.
''For that, the solidarity of all the member states, countries from north to
south, from east and west is absolutely necessary,'' he said.
Luis Echavarri from Spain dropped out of the voting process after the first as
he garnered the fewest votes.
In each of the four following rounds neither Amano nor Minty could get enough
votes to secure the necessary two-thirds majority, with Amano just one vote
short.
In the sixth round, which was a yes and no vote on Amano, he finally managed to
get a two-thirds majority, with 23 voting in favor and 11 voting against. One
of the 35 countries eligible to vote abstained from voting.
Thursday's balloting was the second attempt to find a successor to Mohamed
ElBaradei, who will leave office after 12 years at the head of the
organization. His term will expire in November
Amano joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affaires in 1972 and was
appointed deputy director of the ministry's Disarmament Division in 1982. He
held several different positions within the ministry, including director of the
Nuclear Energy Division and director general for the Disarmament,
Non-Proliferation and Science Department, before being appointed to represent
Japan at the International Organizations in Vienna in 2005.
Amano is married and speaks English and French fluently.
Originally five candidates were nominated for the second round of balloting,
but Jean-Pol Poncelet from Belgium and Ernest Petric from Slovenia withdrew
earlier this week after they did not gain any votes in an informal straw poll
held on June 9.
The procedure will now enter the so-called ''appointment stage'' on Friday in
which the board will confirm the support for Amano, before the General
Conference approves the board's decision at a meeting in September.
==Kyodo