A third straw poll in the selection of a United Nations Secretary General is to be held at the world body's Security Council on August 29, officials have said.

The decision was taken after consultations at the UNSC, Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, Malaysia's Ambassador to the UN, according to the Bulgarian News Agency.

Malaysia holds the UNSC's presidency for August.

The new vote behind closed doors comes after the two previous ones on July 21 and August 05 have single out Antonio Guterres, former Portuguese Prime Minister, as the most preferred candidate.

Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian contender who had for some time been described as a frontrunner in the race to replace Ban Ki-moon, ranked third and fifth in the two votes, respectively.

The fifteen members of the UNSC vote "encourage", "discourage" or "no opinion" about the candidates, with the vote also aimed at persuading some of the contenders to leave the race.

So did Vesna Pusi?, Croatia's former Foreign Minister, who quit earier in August.

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