Lagos, Nigeria - Six candidates are seeking to succeed Senegalese Jacques Diouf as the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), according to a statement from the Rome-based organisation. The candidates, all nominated by their countries, are Franz Fischler (Austria), José Graziano da Silva (Brazil), Indroyono Soesilo (Indonesia), Mohammad Saeid Noori Naeini (Iran), Abdul Latif Rashid (Iraq) and Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé (Spain).

The election of a new Director-General will take place in a secret ballot to be held at the beginning of the 37th FAO Conference in Rome, Italy, 25 June-2 July by the organisation's 191 member nations.

The deadline for nominations was 31 January.

The next Director-General of FAO will be appointed for the period 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2015. The Director-General will be eligible for only one additional mandate of four years.

The new Director-General will take over from Diouf, who has been in office since 1994.

Since the establishment of FAO in 1945, there have been seven Directors-General.

Pana 02/02/2011