"I have good support. I have support across the group, across the world," Ambassador Yukiya Amano told reporters after a one-day meeting of the IAEA's 35-member board here.

Asked whether he had support from countries on each continent, Amano replied: "Almost."

"I am not the candidate of the western group. By no means," he insisted.

The IAEA's board of governors met here Monday to discuss resolutions and decisions taken at the agency's general conference last week, as well as formally to fire the starting gun in the race for a successor to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who steps down in November 2009.

Two candidates have officially stepped forward so far, Japanese envoy Amano, 61, and South African ambassador Abdul Samad Minty, 68.

Under the rules of procedure approved by governors at Monday's meeting, the official closing date for nominations is December 31, 2008, with ElBaradei's successor to be appointed in June 2009 "at the latest".

That appointment will then be put to next year's general conference for final approval.

During the meeting Albania and Colombia publicly declared their support for the Japanese candidate, who gave a short speech to the board. South African candidate Minty made no speech.

Egyptian-born ElBaradei has headed the IAEA since 1997, but recently announced that he would not seek re-election when his current term, his third, expires on November 30, 2009.

There has been speculation that the IAEA's current number two, Olli Heinonen, and the Argentinian head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague, Rogelio Pfirter, could be possible candidates as well.

But it is unclear whether the two are officially in the running.

ElBaradei, 66, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work at the IAEA in 2005, is the watchdog's fourth chief since it was set up in 1957.

The first was an American, Sterling Cole, who served from 1957-61, and the next two director generals were both Swedes -- Sigvard Eklund (1961-1981) and Hans Blix (1981-1997).

Under ElBaradei, the IAEA has verified the shutdown of nuclear weapons programmes of Libya and North Korea and is currently investigating allegations of illicit nuclear work by Iran and Syria.

But ElBaradei has come under fire, not least from the United States, from critics who say he has been too lenient with Iran.

The strong stance on nuclear disarmament of the countries of both South Africa's Minty and Japan's Amano could make it hard for Washington to support either of them.

South African ambassador Minty, who has been Pretoria's representative to the IAEA board since 1995, is well-known for his vocal advocacy of nuclear disarmament.

Japan's Amano has held senior positions related to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in the Japanese foreign ministry.

Japan was "the sole country to have experienced nuclear devastation," Amano told the board in his address, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

It had "spearheaded nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation ... and is renowned for its longstanding and unswerving support for the IAEA."