S. Korean FM certain to be UN chief
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-10-07 09:02
UNITED NATIONS - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, set to be
formally endorsed as UN chief Kofi Annan's successor Monday, is the only
candidate left in the race as all other contenders withdrew, a UN spokeswoman
said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon,
seen here in September 2006, who is expected to be confirmed as UN
secretary general on Monday, would be willing to visit North Korea to
negotiate an end to its nuclear program, foreign ministry officials in
Seoul said.[AFP] |
All six rivals who initially threw their hats into the ring have informed the
Security Council that they were withdrawing their candidacies, UN deputy
spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
The last to pull out were Indian diplomat Shashi Tharoor, the UN
undersecretary general for communications and public information who finished
second to Ban in informal straw polls, and former Thai deputy prime minister
Surakiart Sathirathai.
Earlier Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Jordan's UN ambassador Prince
Zeid al-Hussein, Afghanistan's former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and Sri
Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala also withdrew.
Last Monday Ban, 62, won a decisive fourth straw poll in the Security Council
after securing crucial backing from its five veto-wielding permanent members
(Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States). He had already won three
previous polls by a wide margin.
Under the UN Charter, the secretary general is elected by the 192-member
General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
After its formal vote next Monday, the Security Council is widely expected to
recommend that the 192-member General Assembly in turn endorse Ban to succeed
Annan when the Ghanaian UN chief steps down at the end of December after 10
years in office.
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