Council approves second term for Kofi Annan

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 27.

The 15-member United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to approve Mr. Kofi Annan's second term as head of the world body. The 189-member General Assembly is due to go through with its process this Friday.

There was no opposition to Mr. Annan's second term once he made it officially known that he is seeking the post for another five years.

``The Security Council as a gesture of its recognition of the very excellent work that Secretary General Kofi Annan has done has decided ahead to recommend him for a second term'', the current Council President, Mr. Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh remarked. Mr. Annan's current term ends on December 31.

Unlike the bitter struggle involving the candidacy of Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt five years ago, Mr. Annan received the full backing of all Five Permanent Members who have the veto power. The United States was the first to express support for Mr. Annan with the President, Mr. George W. Bush himself making the announcement.

The head of the world body rotates regionally every five years and there was a weak campaign in some Asian quarters to put up a candidate on the grounds that this was Asia's turn. But there was no serious opposition with even China saying that an Asian could be considered next time. Africa has now the distinction of having someone from the continent as head of the United Nations for 15 years.

PTI reports:

Meanwhile Mr. Kannan, expressing support to the coming Vajpayee- Musharraf summit, told a press conference that he hoped India and Pakistan would stick to dialogue till they are able to find a solution to their problems. They would not be able to solve everything in the first meeting but the summit is an important step which had the support of the people in the region and around the world, Mr. Annan said.

He said he had written to Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf to make a `genuine search' for a solution. ``I am extremely happy that they are going to meet,'' he added.

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