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Foreign ministers from 15 African countries have agreed to press demands for Africa to be granted two veto-wielding permanent seats at the UN Security Council, the executive body of the United Nations, according to a report on Tuesday.
Africa also wants five non-permanent seats with no veto powers on a rotational basis, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Tuesday from Mbabane, capital of southern Africa's small kingdom of Swaziland, where the ministers wrapped up a three-day meeting.
African countries have lodged demands for a stronger presence in a reformed Security Council since Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, launched a blueprint that calls for more members into the council.
"We agreed that we'll support Africa getting no less than two seats and that as a matter of common justice, we think the permanent members should have the same rights and privileges as other permanent members including the veto," Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's foreign minister, told SABC.
The position the African ministers have agreed upon is reportedly to be tabled at the next African Union (AU) executive council meeting in Addis Ababa on March 7 and 8.
Currently only Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are veto wielding permanent members of the Security Council.
South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt are seen to be the main African contenders for permanent seats.
(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2005)
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