RACE ON, for the IMF Top Job

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss- Kahn, who has been jailed on allegations of sexual assault, resigned on Thursday, triggering a succession battle for the top post in Europe and the developing world.

While Europeans nations are insisting that the job is rightfully theirs, emerging markets want to break Europe's stranglehold on the institution, given their rising global economic clout.

Strauss- Kahn resigned on Wednesday. Within hours, politicians from across Europe closed ranks to push for one of their own to lead the agency, and German news organizations reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel would support the French finance minister, Christine Lagarde.

The 24-member IMF executive board will now vote to fill the top post. The process will begin with member governments putting their candidates forward. After that, the board typically sets a window for them to present their case and explain how they would manage the institution.

Traditionally the US holds the World Bank's top job and an European candidate is appointed as the IMF chief. But emerging market countries are insisting that the choice should be made on the basis of merit rather than geography.

IMF officials had originally planned to wait for a decision from the grand jury in New York to see whether Strauss-Kahn would be freed from Rikers Island prison before starting a formal selection process. But soon the thinking prevailed that the IMF has not been decapitated and it is better to find a new managing director quickly. In the meantime, the IMF said in its statement that John Lipsky would remain as acting managing director.