G4, AU to iron out differences over UN expansion

UNITED NATIONS – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan wrapped up talks with an African Union (AU) delegation on Sunday and agreed to press on with negotiations to overcome remaining differences on how best to secure permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

The G4 foreign ministers – Brazil’s Celso Amorim, Germany’s Joschka Fischer, India’s Natwar Singh and Japan’s Nobutaka Machimura – met over a working luncheon with an 18-member team led by Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adeniji, whose country currently chairs the African Union. The AU delegation also included South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Libyan African Affairs Minister Ali Triki and Egypt’s deputy foreign minister Samih Chukri as well as senior officials of 14 other member states.The talks, held at India’s UN mission, centred on differences between the two groups’ respective draft resolutions for Security Council enlargement.The AU draft is demanding veto power for two permanent Security Council seats that would be allocated to Africa as well as five non-permanent council seats, including two for Africa.But Adeniji last week signalled AU’s readiness to compromise on the issue of veto power.The G4 blueprint calls for boosting Council membership from 15 members to 25, with six new permanent seats without veto power, including two for Africa, and four non-permanent seats.Singh said the two sides had had a “useful, constructive and cordial meeting” and were committed to finding a way for “our differences not only to narrow, but to disappear.”He later flew to Washington where he was to join his Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is beginning a US visit, including talks with President George W.Bush yesterday.”We are working together, trying to work out our differences which are smaller than our similarities,” said Amorim.He announced creation of a follow up mechanism grouping representatives of the G4 and the AU “in order to reach an outcome acceptable to all” which will then be examined by their foreign ministers around July 25 at a venue that could be Geneva or an unspecified other city.- Nampa-AFPThe AU delegation also included South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Libyan African Affairs Minister Ali Triki and Egypt’s deputy foreign minister Samih Chukri as well as senior officials of 14 other member states.The talks, held at India’s UN mission, centred on differences between the two groups’ respective draft resolutions for Security Council enlargement.The AU draft is demanding veto power for two permanent Security Council seats that would be allocated to Africa as well as five non-permanent council seats, including two for Africa.But Adeniji last week signalled AU’s readiness to compromise on the issue of veto power.The G4 blueprint calls for boosting Council membership from 15 members to 25, with six new permanent seats without veto power, including two for Africa, and four non-permanent seats.Singh said the two sides had had a “useful, constructive and cordial meeting” and were committed to finding a way for “our differences not only to narrow, but to disappear.”He later flew to Washington where he was to join his Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is beginning a US visit, including talks with President George W.Bush yesterday.”We are working together, trying to work out our differences which are smaller than our similarities,” said Amorim.He announced creation of a follow up mechanism grouping representatives of the G4 and the AU “in order to reach an outcome acceptable to all” which will then be examined by their foreign ministers around July 25 at a venue that could be Geneva or an unspecified other city.- Nampa-AFP