S Korean Ban Ki-Moon to be new UN chief; Tharoor bows out

United Nations, Oct 3 (UNI) India's official candidate for the post of UN Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor today bowed out of the race after South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon won the 15-nation Security Council straw poll to replace Mr Kofi Annan in January next year.

In the final informal straw poll held yesterday, Mr Tharoor again came second to Mr Ban, who received 14 positive votes and no veto from the permanent five. Even in earlier polls, the Indian nominee had been second to the South Korean leader.

This was the fourth and final informal straw poll since July, but the first to distinguish between the five permanent and 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council.

The Indian author and the UN undersecretary-general for public information secured second place with 10 votes in favour, three xagainst -- one of which was a veto-holding member -- and two ''no opinions''.

''I've written to Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon to express my warmest congratulations on the outcome of the poll,'' Mr Tharoor said in a statement, adding that ''it's clear he will be our next secretary-general.'' Mr Tharoor said he would strongly support Mr Ban, 62, because the United Nations and the world have a stake in his success.

There were four other candidates after the withdrawal of Mr Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The Council members marked ballots to "encourage, discourage or express no opinion" as in three previous informal polls. Each member could vote for more than one of the seven candidates.

Most council members agreed with the Chinese contention that the next secretary-general should be from Asia. All the candidates, except Ms Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia, are Asians.

The United States seems to have joined China in this connection.

American envoy to the United Nations John Bolton said Washington has a lot of respect for Foreign Minister Ban.

Russia also said it backed South Korean Foreign Minster Ban Ki-Moon for the post of UN Secretary-General, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin said.

The last Asian secretary-general was Mr U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) who held the post between 1961 and 1971.

An official poll is expected to be held on October 9 after which the 192-member UN General Assembly must approve the council's recommendation.

A candidate is required to get at least nine positive votes and no veto from the 15-member UN Security Council in the race to succeed Mr Annan, who ends his 10-year term on December 31.

UNI Team PR AT HS1756