UNSC seats: G-4 meets African Union today

Foreign ministers from Japan, Germany, India and Brazil (G-4) on Monday mount their second diplomatic offensive in a week to get crucial Afr...

Foreign ministers from Japan, Germany, India and Brazil (G-4) on Monday mount their second diplomatic offensive in a week to get crucial African support for their bid to expand the UN Security Council.

The four, contenders for new permanent council seats, meet in London with African Union ministers from Nigeria, Ghana, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and others. On July 17, they met in New York but failed to reach a compromise.

Without support of the 53-member African Union no enlargement is possible of the 15-member council, whose composition still reflects the balance of power at the end of World War Two.

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But the window of opportunity is rapidly closing if there is to be any expansion before a September UN world summit as Secretary-General Kofi Annan wanted.

“If we have the feeling that we will get 35-plus African votes, we want a vote in July. But this is a G-4 decision on when we want to vote,” Brazil’s deputy UN ambassador Henrique Valle said.

The G-4 have called to enlarge the Security Council from 15 to 25, without veto powers for six new permanent seats, including two for Africa. The African Union’s draft resolution calls for 26 seats, with veto privileges for the new members.

Nigeria, which holds the presidency of the African Union,has urged compromise, but diplomats said Arab nations in the North were among the key hold outs.