African leaders to press for UN reforms

African Union (AU) leaders agreed on Monday to continue to press for the continent's plan to enlarge the UN Security Council. A statement issued by 48 African heads of state and officials attending a one-day meeting reiterated their intention to pursue the goal of two permanent seats with veto power for the continent - a position that has held up the reform process in the past. "Full recognition of Africa in the Security Council means not less than two permanent seats, including veto," they maintained in the announcement. The AU proposes an enlargement of the 15-member Security Council by 11 seats. The 26-member council would include six new permanent seats -- two of which would have veto power and go to Africa -- and five nonpermanent ones. That stance, however, helped push Security Council reform to the sidelines of a three-day UN summit in September. An AU summit in August failed to reach a compromise with the so-called Group of Four -- Japan, Brazil, Germany and India -- which had proposed two permanent seats for Africa but no veto power on a 25-member council, adding a total of six permanent seats and four nonpermanent seats. There were warnings at Monday's meeting that Africa should reach a consensus quickly. Security Council reforms would offer Africa "a chance to move from a rather marginal role to a role of a major player," said Ambassador Hans-Joachim Daerr, a German Foreign Ministry official. "The window of opportunity for reforms does not stay open indefinitely," Daerr said on the sidelines of the meeting in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The AU will form a committee to present a united African position at the UN General Assembly, the meeting's final statement said, but did not give details or a timeline. The committee would also be mandated "to present, canvass, advocate and seek support" for the African position with all other regions of the world, the statement said. "[We] need to correct the historical injustice that produced a situation where Africa is the only continent that does not have a permanent seat within the Security Council of the United Nations," it said. "The full representation of Africa within the UN Security Council means not less than two permanent seats with veto rights and five non-permanent seats," said the report, which was read to the summit by Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. "Africa cannot even discuss or entertain what would amount to second-class membership - a permanent membership without a veto," it said.