Fuente : World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org

US To Get Seat At The Table For UN Reform Talks

/noticias.info/ UN General Assembly President Jean Ping said on Tuesday he wanted to try a new negotiating tactic to complete work on a comprehensive UN reform plan after the United States raised extensive objections to the most recent draft, reports Reuters.

A core group of 20 to 30 nations, including the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, would be named to resolve remaining differences in the reform plan in time for a UN world summit opening in three weeks in New York, Ping told reporters. That would ensure Washington a seat at the table to make its case, along with other permanent council members Russia, China, France and Britain. Until now, the drafting has been conducted informally, in hopes of keeping the focus on the whole package and off the details.

The reform document, intended to serve as a blueprint for bringing the world body into the 21st century, touches on a broad range of issues from UN management reform -- a top US priority -- to combating poverty, overhauling the UN human rights mechanism and curbing the spread of nuclear arms. If completed on time, it would be adopted by more than 170 world leaders at the close of the Sept. 14-16 UN summit.

Ping unveiled his idea for a core group a week after John Bolton, Washington's new UN ambassador, floated the idea of scrapping or renegotiating major portions of the draft paper, a move some diplomats feared would sink the initiative. One option put forward by Bolton was to launch line-by-line negotiations on the document, starting from scratch. Another was to replace the current 38-page draft with a punchier three-page version. Many developing nations also were unhappy with large parts of the document, diplomats said. With time at a premium, he hoped to name the core group members "as soon as possible," Ping said.

The Associated Press meanwhile reports John Bolton urged UN member nations Tuesday to start negotiations to resolve major differences on a proposal to reform the United Nations and reduce poverty. In a letter to ambassadors from the 190 other UN member states obtained by the news agency, Bolton said "time is short" and there is a need for flexibility "to maximize our chances of success." In the letter, Bolton suggested that "we begin negotiations immediately, this week if possible, starting with president Ping's draft, but open to alternative formats if they help us achieve consensus."

The Associated Press further notes in a separate piece that Japan was insisting this week that its quest for a permanent seat on the Security Council was not over, despite a report on Sunday in Japan's conservative Sankei newspaper that Japan had decided to postpone its efforts. "There will be no change in the Foreign Ministry's policy," said Toshihiro Kitamura, the chief secretary of the ministry's UN division. Kenzo Oshima, Japan's UN representative, also told reporters after a meeting with UN officials in New York on Monday that Japan would continue to seek international backing for the G4 bid.

In other development at the UN, Reuters reports that Britain wants presidents and prime ministers of the 15 UN Security Council nations to meet next month on ways to punish people who incite terrorism, a British diplomat said on Tuesday. The proposed high-level council meeting, if it takes place, would coincide with a Sept. 14-16 UN summit in New York of more than 170 world leaders who are considering an array of global concerns, ranging from a new anti-terrorism treaty and eliminating poverty to reforming the United Nations.

London is now considering whether to ask the UN Security Council to approve a resolution or statement calling on all 191 UN members to adopt legislation outlawing the incitement of terrorism, said a British diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The resolution or statement would seek to strike an appropriate balance between the need to prevent terrorist acts and to protect human rights including the right to freedom of expression, the envoy said. London has so far mentioned its idea to the Philippines, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency in September, and to the United States, France, Russia and China, the four other veto-wielding permanent members of the council along with Britain, the diplomat said. The reaction to date has been "fairly positive," he said. notas_de_prensa_archivo