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Saturday, Jun 17, 2006

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U.S. declines comment on Tharoor's nomination

Disagrees Asia has sole right to field candidate for top U.N. job

Washington: The Bush administration has declined comment on India's formal endorsement of U.N. diplomat Shashi Tharoor as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

"Obviously, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is an extremely important position for the welfare of the whole world and the United States will be looking very carefully at all the nominees," a senior State Department official said, when asked to respond to Thursday's announcement by New Delhi.

In fact, the United States has had little to say on the other candidates. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves office in December this year after serving two five-year terms.

The decision to field Mr. Tharoor, currently the U.N. Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, comes with an assertion that under the principle of regional rotation, the next Secretary-General should be from Asia. Hours after India's decision, Pakistan said it would field a candidate to challenge Mr. Tharoor.

Despite the clamour made by the Asian aspirants, the Bush administration has made it clear that it does not agree that Asia has the sole right to field the next candidate.

It is looking to Eastern Europe and other precincts. Mr. Annan himself had said that under the U.N. tradition to rotate top jobs among the regions, his successor should come from the 54-member Asian region, which stretches from Lebanon to Fiji. "I have no horse in this race, and may the best man win," he remarked.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, describing himself as a harmoniser, is the latest among Asian diplomats vying for the top post.

Mr. Ban, 62, is the third candidate from Asia, although there are at least half-a-dozen more names frequently mentioned as probables to succeed Mr. Annan.

Among them is Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who has support among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but his constant campaigning also has discouraged some nations.

Seasoned Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala is another serious contestant. He is the Government's former peace negotiator with rebel factions. He had served for five years as the U.N. Under Secretary-General for Disarmament.

His reputation is building, but not so much in the Security CouncilPakistan on Friday termed as "speculation" reports that it planned to field Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or some high-profile candidate against Mr. Tharoor for the post.

"It is all speculation at the moment," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Tasnim Aslam said.

Ambassador to U.N, Munir Akram, said on Thursday that Islamabad was giving "serious consideration" to field a candidate.

PTI, UNI

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