By KUNA,
By Abdelwaheb El-Gueyed VIENNA : The IAEA Board of Governors is set to convene early March to reflect on several issues, chiefly how much Iran, Syria and North Korea are committed to the NPT agreement of safeguards.
The 35-country board will also discuss who could succeed incumbent IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei whose term expires in November 2009, an IAEA source, on anonymity, told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Japanese and South African ambassadors at the IAEA Yukia Amano and Abdul Samad Minty respectively are key candidates to replace ElBaradei, the source revealed.
But, Amano is the most favorite to take up the post thanks to Japan’s great contributions to the IAEA budget and western support to him.
Amano was chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors from September 2005 to September 2006.
The IAEA chief will present a report to the meeting on the three countries’ extent of abidance by the NPT agreement of safeguards signed with the world nuclear watchdog, the source added.
Also to be discussed are, inter alia, closer international cooperation in the nuclear and radioactivity safety field and IAEA membership bids, the source noted. (end) amq.mt KUNA 091518 Feb 09NNNN