Vienna  - The atomic bombing of Japan and South Africa's past nuclear weapons programme were brought into play Wednesday as diplomats from these two countries entered the last heat to be elected leader of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA governing board is set to meet on March 26 and 27 to elect the successor to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who retires in November after 12 years at the helm of the UN nuclear watchdog.

But diplomats in Vienna said that although South African diplomat Abdul Samad Minty was unlikely to win, it was not yet certain whether the leading contender, Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, could muster the necessary two-thirds majority in the IAEA's Board of Governors.

"As I come from a country that has experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," 61-year-old Amano told the board, "I am deeply convinced that a nuclear catastrophe should never be repeated."

The Japanese ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna has held senior positions related to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in the Japanese foreign ministry before being posted in Austria.

As a deputy director general in South Africa's department of foreign affairs, Minty, 69, represents his country at the IAEA board.

Minty stressed South Africa's active work in nuclear non-proliferation that was however based on nuclear history quite different from that of Japan.

"We were the only country that had nuclear weapons but gave them up," Minty told reporters, adding that he had lobbied to exclude Apartheid-era South Africa from the IAEA.

Both Minty and Amano stressed the need for the IAEA to focus both on inspection work in countries like Iran, and on promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Diplomats in Vienna said Amano has the support of more than 20 countries on the 35-member IAEA board, as European and Western countries seek a leader who is considered to be less political than ElBaradei and Minty.

While the 66-year-old Egyptian IAEA head has been speaking out about a variety of issues including the Middle East peace process, Minty is known as an advocate of nuclear disarmament, which is not part of the IAEA's mandate.

If neither diplomat gets enough support from the 35 countries on the IAEA board, the race could be opened for new candidates to step forward. (dpa)