Diplomats: UN nuclear agency chooses veteran Japanese diplomat as its new director general

Diplomats: IAEA chooses Japanese as new head

VIENNA — Diplomats say the U.N. nuclear agency’s governing board has chosen a veteran Japanese diplomat as its new head.

The diplomats say that Yukiya Amano has received the required two-thirds majority from the 35-nation board. The vote Thursday was 23 for Amano and 11 for Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa, with one abstention.

The present head, Mohamed ElBaradei, is scheduled to end his term in November. A previous round of balloting in March was indecisive. The diplomats spoke on the events inside the closed meeting on condition of anonymity.