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Five nations win UN Security Council seats Fri Oct 15, 5:50 PM ET World - AFP http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&e=1&u=/afp/20041015/wl_afp/un_council UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United Nations (news - web sites) elected five new members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms starting on January 1 -- Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania. Japan takes its seat amid a full-on campaign by Tokyo to get a permanent seat on an expanded council under a series of reforms that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) would like to see enacted next year. The five will replace Angola, Chile, Germany, Pakistan and Spain among the council's 10 non-permanent members. The other five elected in 2003 have one year remaining: Algeria, Benin, Brazil, the Philippines and Romania. With the departure of Pakistan at year's end, Algeria will be the only Muslim nation remaining on the council. Annan has appointed a panel of experts due to report in December on suggested reforms of the United Nations system, including a possible expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members. Japan has launched a joint bid with India, current member Brazil and outgoing member Germany for permanent seats on an expanded council, along with an African nation to be determined. "It's a big day for us, certainly," Japanese Ambassador Koichi Haraguchi told reporters. "The sort of momentum in seeking reform of the council is very, very great at this moment." He added: "I can't underestimate the difficulties we will have to encounter. Hopefully we will be able to produce some package which would satisfy as many countries as possible." The council has had the same five permanent members with veto power over its legally binding resolutions -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- since the United Nations was formed in the wake of World War II. After the United States launched the war in Iraq (news - web sites) last year against the wishes of a sharply divided council, Annan warned that the international system had reached a "fork in the road" and called for widespread changes. "If you, the political leaders of the world's nations, cannot reach agreement on the way forward, history will take the decisions for you," Annan said in an address to world leaders here last month. But the issue of council reform has been discussed in the corridors of the world body for years with little tangible progress, and it is unclear what changes the permanent members, known as the "P-5," will accept. Britain and France support the four nations in the Japanese joint bid but the United States has had strained relations with Germany because of its strong opposition to the Iraq war. It has only come out in support of Japan. Japan is the second largest contributor to the UN budget after the United States, and has made clear its demand for a greater say in UN operations. Friday's vote was in effect a rubber stamp of an agreement on who should take the seats that was worked out over months of negotiations between regional groups. The results of the secret ballot, announced by UN General Assembly president Jean Ping after 189 nations cast their ballot, were: Argentina (188), Denmark (181), Greece (187), Japan (184), Tanzania (186). "For us it's a great honour, a great responsibility and a privilege," said Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul-Kader Shareef of Tanzania, who was on hand for the vote. "We'll start the hard work tomorrow," said Ellen Margrethe Loj, the Danish UN ambassador. "It is an opportunity for Denmark to make our contribution to the work of the council." Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
