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| Sunday, 8 January 2006 |
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Japan denies
rift with G4 partners over SC reform
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 (AFP) - Japan said Friday its decision not to join Brazil, Germany and India in resubmitting a draft resolution on enlarging the UN Security Council did not signal a rift with its so-called G4 partners. "There is a clear distinction between the G4 draft resolution and the G4 cooperative framework," Shinichi Iida, first secretary at Japan's UN mission, told AFP. "We do not believe the G4 draft in its current form can garner the necessary support," he added. "However the G4 is the driving force behind Security Council reform and we need the G4 countries to cooperate together." The latest draft submitted to the UN Secretariat Thursday is similar to one already presented last year by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan which failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. It calls for boosting the council's membership from the current 15 to 25, with six new permanent seats with no veto power - one for each of the G4 members plus two for the African region - and four new non-permanent seats. But the text met stiff opposition from the United States and China, both permanent veto-wielding members of the council along with Britain, France and Russia. Japan said Thursday it was drawing up its own new UN proposal that it hoped would be acceptable to Washington, its main ally, for securing a prestigious permanent seat on the Security Council. |
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