Plea for consensus on UN seats

2005-08-04 23:36

Abraham Fisseha

Addis Ababa - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday urged divided African leaders to forge a consensus on United Nations reform to keep the continent from losing out if the United Nations security council is expanded.

As the African Union (AU) opened an emergency one-day summit aimed at overcoming rifts on how many seats should be added to the council, whether new permanent members should have veto power and which African nations should get them, Obasanjo, the AU's current chairperson, said the contentious debate was hurting the continent's credibility.

"We need to negotiate with other groups, unless our objective is to prevent any decision," he told senior officials from 46 of the 53 AU members.

"If that happens, let us be under no illusion: Africa stands to lose more than any other region," said Obasanjo, who backs changes to the pan-African body's initial demand for two permanent, veto-wielding seats on the security council.

AU in two minds

The AU is divided over whether to stick with those demands or alter it in line with a proposal from the so-called G4 - Brazil, India, Japan and Germany - calling for less radical reform to the now 15-member council.

In July, AU leaders called for the security council to be enlarged to 26 seats but it has since been asked to join a G4 proposal that would see the council expanded to 25 members, with six new permanent seats without veto power and four non-permanent seats.

The G4 plan envisions one permanent seat each for its members and two for Africa with Africa also getting one non-permanent seat and sharing another with other developing nations.

Arab states from north Africa, notably Algeria, Egypt and Libya, are strongly opposed to dropping the demand for veto power while many countries in sub-Saharan Africa appear willing to accept the G4 proposal, diplomats said.

In addition to Nigeria, South Africa supports the G4 suggestion, they said.

Africa to reach a consensus

The AU has yet to decide which nations, if any, it will back as a bloc for membership.

Diplomats from the G4 observing the summit at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, said they hoped Africa would rally behind their proposal which is backed by more than 30 countries, including current permanent security council members France and Britain.

"We are following the summit closely and quietly with the hope that the African states will reach some kind of consensus," said Keitaro Sato, Japan's special envoy for UN reform.

One AU diplomat said despite resistance from Arab states, the continent appeared to be coalescing around a variation of the G4 plan that would drop the demand for veto power but reserve four of the five new non-permanent seats for Africa.

- AFP