"I have no desire to see Alexander Downer leave his present position, none whatsoever," Howard told national radio.

"He's doing an excellent job where he is now."

The Washington Post reported that the adminstration of US President George W. Bush would like Downer to replace Mohamed ElBaradei as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The newspaper said the Bush administration thought ElBaradei had been too soft on Iran's suspected nuclear program and had tapped phone conversations between him and Iranian diplomats in an attempt to gain evidence.

However Washington had failed to persuade Downer to run to replace him, the newspaper said.

Australia has been one of Bush's closest allies on the war against terror and the war in Iraq.

Howard said he did not think Downer would take over the job.

"I do know that some people have spoken about the possibility of it but I don't think it's going to come off," he said.

Downer's office has refused to comment on the report, which comes weeks after he hosted ElBaradei at a leading conference on nuclear proliferation.

On Tuesday Downer flew to Papua New Guinea at the start of a Pacific tour.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.