UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan was approved unanimously by the 15-member Security Council today for a second five-year term as the world's top diplomat.
|
|
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan was approved for a second five-year term as the world's top diplomat.
|
The 189-member General Assembly completes the election process with a vote on Friday.
The re-election of Mr Annan, a 63-year old Ghanaian, has been a forgone conclusion since he announced in March he would run again and no candidate opposed him. His current term expires on December 31st.
His re-election this week, held months earlier than usual, is a far cry from the contentious battles five years ago when the United States vetoed Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt for a second term, complaining he did not do enough for UN reform.
A soft-spoken straight-talker, Mr Annan, has achieved the feat of walking through UN political minefields nearly unscathed, gaining diplomatic superstar status in the process, especially in developing nations where red carpets are rolled out for his visits.
A career UN official, Mr Annan became the seventh UN secretary-general on January 1st, 1997.
He is a member of a merchant family from the Fante ethnic group and is married to a Swedish artist and lawyer. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States.