IAEA to vote for new director July 9: Official

An official says the board of the UN nuclear monitoring agency will vote for a new director general July 9.        

The planned vote would follow a March session that failed to choose a successor to Mohamed Elbaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He steps down in November.        

Five candidates are now in the running. But the 35-nation IAEA board plans a "straw poll" on June 9 to reduce the field by weeding out those with little chance of winning the two-thirds majority.        

The UN official demanded anonymity in comments to The Associated Press because the July 9 date has not yet been officially announced.