UN reform debate drags on

Brazil's UN envoy Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg introduced the draft from the so-called G4, which calls for enlarging the Council from the current 15 members to 25 by creating six new permanent seats without veto power and four non-perm-anent seats.

The G4 countries are pressing for an early vote on the draft, which is co-sponsored by 23 countries including France, possibly as early as late this week.

Sardenberg said the security structure established in 1945 when the UN was created was "now glaringly outdated."

He said that a more balanced membership of the council was needed to reflect "new realities" and to be responsive to the views and needs of all member states, in particular developing countries.

The draft does not spell out which countries would secure the new Council seats but diplomats said the six new permanent seats would go to the G4 and two African countries yet to be selected.

At present, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the only permanent and veto-wielding members of the powerful UN body, which also has 10 rotating non-permanent members without veto power.

The proposed expansion of the Security Council is part of a broader plan to overhaul the United Nations, which is spearheaded by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and world leaders will discuss it at a summit in September ahead of the annual General Assembly session.

The United States said yesterday it supports Japan's bid for a UN Security Council seat but stopped short of endorsing a UN reform proposal made by the Group of Four -- Japan, Germany, India and Brazil.

"I reaffirmed to the foreign minister our support for a Japanese seat on the United Nations Security Council," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters after holding talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura in Tokyo.