Japan to give up UN bid

2005-08-21 13:06

Tokyo - Japan will give up its bid for a permanent seat on the UN security council for the time being since it failed to win enough support from the international community, a Japanese newspaper reported on Sunday.

However, a spokesperson for the prime minister said he was unaware of any such decision.

Japan, Brazil, Germany and India - the so-called Group of Four - have proposed expanding the council to 25 seats, adding six permanent seats without veto power.

The four countries hoped to get permanent seats, with the two remaining seats reserved for Africa. They had proposed the addition of four non-permanent seats, including one for Africa.

But the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday that Japan will soon hold talks with the three other countries to confirm that they are giving up their Group of Four bid. The report did not cite sources.

Foreign ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday.

Yu Kameoka, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he had not heard of any decision regarding the UN vote.

The council currently has 10 members elected for two-year terms and five permanent members with veto power - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

While the G4 bid has garnered support from 90 countries, including France and Britain, it is still short of the 128 votes needed in the 191-member General Assembly for adoption, the daily said.

The African Union has proposed expanding the council to 26 members -adding six permanent seats with veto power and five non-permanent seats. A third variant would add 10 non-permanent seats.

The paper said that after the Group of Four and African Union failed to reach consensus, Japan decided to concede its bid.

But Tokyo will continue to seek a permanent seat by 2020, when a conference on council reform is planned, the report said.

- SAPA