In an interview published on The Guardian website, Darling said the fittest candidate -- irrespective of his origins -- should succeed IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato, who is due to step down in October.

"The managing director job needs to be filled following an open process," Chancellor of the Exchequer Darling told the daily.

"I don't think Europe can simply say, 'that position is ours and we are not prepared to discuss it with anyone else'," he said.

"The mood out there is for reform. People want to see a process that is far more open and transparent than in the past."

The proposal, if accepted, would mark a radical shake-up in the IMF.

Ever since it was set up in 1944, the IMF has always been headed by a European while its sister organisation, the World Bank, has had an American boss.

US President George W. Bush followed that tradition by appointing former US trade representative Robert Zoellick to head the World Bank after the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz.

Darling said all countries should have the right to nominate candidates and to assess prospective applicants.

Responding to questions of whether there was opposition from the rest of Europe, Darling said: "It is true to say there are varying degrees of enthusiasm. There is a view that it is our (Europe's) turn. Just because it has always been so in the past, doesn't mean it will always be so in the future."

"The next managing director may well be a European if he or she is the best candidate for the job. But we won't know that until other countries have the chance to put forward their nominations.

"I suspect there will be nominations from other parts of the world."

Asked if he expected Europe to reject his suggestion, he said: "I hope they won't."

FRANCE GETS EU BACKING TO HEAD IMF
Another report from Brussels adds: France won key EU backing Tuesday for former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn to lead the IMF despite British calls for a candidate from outside Europe.

Paris secured a tentative victory just hours after French President Nicolas Sarkozy clashed in Brussels with finance ministers from the 13-nations sharing the euro on Monday over his controversial budget plans.

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn became the Europeans' candidate for the managing director of the IMF," new French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told journalists on the margins of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels.

"That will allow him to start a campaign and consultation process with all the members of the IMF," she added.

Poland early Tuesday announced its support for a former Polish prime minister, Marek Belka, but an EU diplomat said later that Warsaw had withdrawn the candidacy.

EU finance ministers scrambled to find a replacement for the current International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo Rato after the Spaniard's surprise announcement late last month that he would step down in October.