The UN atomic watchdog met Thursday to elect a new leader to succeed Mohamed ElBaradei, who is leaving in November after 12 years in office.

Yukiya Amano of Japan and Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa are expected to participate in the run-off after Luis Echavarri of Spain ranked the third in the first elimination round and went out of the race.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) failed to elect a new director general in a previous round of voting in March.

Amano, who is endorsed by Western powers, failed to win the necessary two-thirds vote as most developing countries on the 35-nation board supported Minty.

ElBaradei, who served three four-year terms, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for his work at the IAEA.

The IAEA is playing a key role in international controversies over nuclear programs in Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Syria.

Source: Xinhua