UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 28 (Reuters) The UN Security Council holds its third informal poll today in an effort to quickly select a successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a move that could be decisive for front-runner South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon.

But the poll today may not be as revealing as another one scheduled for Monday, which will indicate which of the seven candidates is backed or opposed by any of the veto-bearing council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

A candidate needs at least nine votes and no veto to get the job to succeed Annan, a Ghanaian, who ends his 10 years in office on Dec 31. The selection must be confirmed by the 192-member UN General Assembly.

''We are at the point where we should make a decision,'' US Ambassador John Bolton said yesterday.

Most diplomats believe the United States favors Ban and a vote in October would confirm his front-runner status.

The campaigning as been intense, with nominees speaking at various forums in New York, giving interviews and traveling around the globe.

Ban, who has been generous in interviews, has not appeared at debates recently with any of his competitors. He also did not submit an essay to The New York Times on how he sees the job, as five other candidates did.

Britain and France have spoken against the rush to close the process, arguing that two candidates -- Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani -- had entered late and should have the chance in straw polls, council members said.

Consequently, council members today afternoon will again mark ballots to ''encourage, discourage or express no opinion'' as in the previous two straw polls.

In the last informal poll, Ban received 14 out of 15 favorable votes, ahead of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian novelist and the UN undersecretary-general for public information, who got 10 positive votes.

The other three candidates are Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister; Jordan's UN ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein; and Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former UN undersecretary-general for disarmament. UN tradition deems that the next UN leader come from Asia.

Tharoor said the next balloting would be crucial.

''I was second in both the two straw polls because I do believe that many ambassadors and many governments are looking for a real choice,'' he told Reuters. ''But I acknowledge, as a realist, that if Mr Ban consolidates his lead today, it could be all over.'' In Bangkok today, the Nation newspaper, in a front-page article said Surin Pitsuwan, a respected former Thai prime minister, might be a last-minute candidate. Thailand has not nominated him and the new military government has made clear it is supporting Surakiart.

Surakiart is the candidate of the ASEAN, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and at this point has little chance of getting the post. His candidacy, however, has prevented other nominations from ASEAN countries, which have stuck to their initial support.

The secretary-general's job has changed over the years, but Bolton said the first priority was to be the chief administrative officer and institute management reforms.

Even Ban had some qualms about that. He told the Asia Society on Monday that many of the management operations would be left to a deputy as he would also have to travel and handle diplomacy around the world.

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