Eighteen-nation summit urges Asian for next head of United Nations

19th June 2006 - ALMATY, Kazakhstan — An international forum, including China and Russia, expressed support Saturday for an Asian to be the next head of the United Nations.

Although the 18-member grouping is called the Conference on Interactions and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, it includes Egypt, Israel, Iran and Turkey, as well as representatives from the Palestinian Authority. The grouping last met in 2002.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Hu Jintao of China said countries must work together to grapple with AIDS, terrorism and bird flu.

“We cannot sit around given the threats and challenges that the countries of Asia are facing today,” Mr. Putin said at the one-day meeting hosted by the oil-rich Central Asian country Kazakhstan.

“It is important to have a multilateral approach in the region,” Mr. Hu told the delegates.

The participants signed a declaration pledging to step up joint efforts to fight terrorism, organized crime, separatism and drug-trafficking.

“We are convinced that multilateral co-operation...is more necessary today than ever for maintaining regional and international peace and security,” the declaration said.

It also expressed support for UN reforms and the election of an Asian candidate as UN secretary general.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's second five-year term ends Dec. 31 and his successor must be approved by the General Assembly based on a recommendation from the Security Council.

The permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain — are divided on when to choose the next UN chief and where he or she should come from.

By tradition, the job of secretary general rotates by region — and Asian and African countries, who represent the majority of the 191 UN member states, believe it is Asia's turn to lead the United Nations.

The United States has expressed strong opposition to the principle of geographic rotation, a view backed by Britain.

Three secretary generals have come from Western Europe, two from Africa, one from Latin America and one from Asia.

The only previous Asian secretary general was Burma's U Thant, who served from 1961 to 1971 at the height of the Cold War which included much of the Vietnam War.

So far, the announced candidates are all Asian: South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, Thai deputy prime minister Surakiart Sathirathai and former UN disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka.