Ethiopia backs Japan bid for UN Security Council seat

Ethiopia backs Japan bid for UN Security Council seat
(DPA) 30 April 2006
ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday assured visiting Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi of his government’s unqualified support for Tokyo’s campaign to secure a permanent seat with the United Nations Security Council.
The assurance was given during the first round of talks in Addis Ababa on bilateral relations and international issues of mutual interest.
Speaking to reporters following the “fruitful” talks, the Ethiopian leader said that the discussions covered reform of the UN Security Council, deliberations on which will begin among the UN’s 191 members in September.
Koizumi said it was reassuring to get Ethiopia’s support for his country’s candidacy for a permanent seat “as this country enjoys an important place in Africa as the seat of the African Union and other regional organizations.”
He said the two sides had a candid exchange of views on bilateral relations and international issues, including the proposed reform of the UN and the candidacy of the Group of Four (G4) -Japan, Brazil, Germany and India - for a permanent Security Council seat.
The AU had in 2005 rejected the candidacy of the G4 group for permanent Council seats. Meles on Sunday however reiterated that the rejection had been only on the basis that the AU backed the expansion of the Council to include just two more permanent seats, not four.
He said Ethiopia’s “unqualified support” for Japan to become a permanent member of the Security Council was made known prior to the G-Four approach to the AU.
Koizumi reiterated his government’s decision to double Japan’s aid to Africa over the next three years, in line with the announcement he had made in 2005 at the G-8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland.
Japan provided more than 10 billion dollars for Africa through Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) between 1993 and 2005, which would now be doubled to 20 billion dollars by 2008.
Koizumi was on Monday scheduled to meet African Union executives, including its chief Alpha Oumar Konare, for talks.
The Japanese Prime Minister, who arrived in Addis Ababa Saturday night, was to conclude his first official visit to Ethiopia later Monday before departing for Ghana.