Amano will have to tackle North Korea's nuclear issues among others

Amano will replace Mohamed El Baradei as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, after he steps down from the role in November.

after several rounds of voting on Thursday, the candidate scored the required two thirds majority from the 35-nation governing board, defeating Abdul Samad Minty, his South African rival.

Many nations had wanted an IAEA leader with broad consensus backing to tackle threats to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

Earlier, Russia had told other board members that it will be "unacceptable" if Amano is elected by only the minimum winning margin, an EU diplomat said.

Such an outcome would harden a North-South split undermining the next IAEA chief's authority, he added.

El Baradei, an Egyptian diplomat, has been in the job for 12 years and served three terms.

Amano will assume the highly sensitive nuclear dossiers of Syria, Iran and North Korea and will also have to persuade IAEA member countries to contribute more money to its budget.

El Baradei, who won the the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for his work at the IAEA, has often been criticised as being too outspoken and has also been accused of politicising the agency.

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