Portugal's Guterres leads race for U.N. chief after fifth ballot

Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), arrives for a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres leads the race to become the next United Nations Secretary-General after a fifth U.N. Security Council secret ballot on Monday, diplomats said.

The 15-member council cast a ballot for each of the remaining nine candidates with the choices of: encourage, discourage or no opinion. Guterres received 12 encourage, two discourage and one no opinion, diplomats said.