THE US: The United States has rejected support for any expansion of the 15-member UN Security Council pending fundamental reforms of the United Nations.
The US line was spelt out by Nicholas Burns, under-secretary of state for political affairs at the US State Department, in testimony on Capitol Hill.
Mr Burns said the US was committed to seeing meaningful changes at the United Nations during the upcoming General Assembly summit, but that reform must come before considering expansion of the security council.
Expanding membership of the 15-member security council is a key element of UN reform proposed by general secretary Kofi Annan. A new round of ministerial talks involving Japan, Brazil, Germany and India, all of whom want permanent seats on an expanded council, is expected to take place in London on Monday.
The four are expected to co- ordinate policy on a UN resolution due to be voted on at the UN General Assembly on July 29th.
At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Mr Burns criticised attempts in Congress to withhold US dues to the UN pending reform.
The US was open to proposals by other nations to make the security council more representative of today's world, he said, but the primary goal of expansion should be to make it more effective.
Other reforms must be addressed first.
"We do not think any proposal to expand the security council - including one based on our own ideas - should be voted upon at this stage."
The US House of Representatives has already approved legislation that would allow president George Bush to withhold 50 per cent of US dues to the UN if certain conditions were not met. Thirteen countries, including Mexico and Canada, have proposed an increase of 10 non-permanent seats on the council.
African countries have proposed a total of 26 seats. The US has given tentative support to add two or more permanent seats to the council, which under the UN charter has five permanent members - the US, China, France, Britain and Russia - and 10 rotating members.
Any change will require the support of two-thirds of the UN's 191 member states.