French former European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and candidate for WTO Director General gestures during a press conference in the Geneva WTO headquarters, Switzerland,Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005.  (AP/File photo)

GENEVA, April 15 (Xinhuanet) -- France's Pascal Lamy emerged the top candidate to head the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the first round of consultations among members on Friday.

    Lamy, the former European Union trade chief, was followed by the foreign minister of Mauritius, Jayen Krishna Cuttaree, and Uruguay's former ambassador to the WTO Carlos Perez del Castillo, said Amina Mohamed, Kenya's ambassador to the WTO and head of the election process.

    The Brazilian candidate, Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa, stands last of the four hopefuls, she said.

    Outgoing WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailandends his term on Aug. 31 and his replacement is expected to be picked by May, after several rounds of closed-door consultations among the group's 148 members.

    According to WTO rules for choosing new leader, the bottom-ranked candidate will be dropped after each round of consultationsand only three candidates could stay in the second consultation slated for April 21.

    The term of the WTO chief is six years and bitter divisions among members during the last election in 1999 have forced the group to split the term between New Zealand's Mike Moore and Supachai, with each getting three years in the job. Enditem