UNITED NATIONS: THE UNITED NATIONS AWAIT AFRICA'S FORMAL NOMINATIONS FOR THE NEW UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Record ID: 649391

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: THE UNITED NATIONS AWAIT AFRICA'S FORMAL NOMINATIONS FOR THE NEW UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL
  • Date: 3rd December 1996
  • Summary: (UNITED NATIONS) (RECENT) (REUTERS TV) GV EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS. 0.15
  • Embargoed: 18th December 1996 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: UNITED NATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKL38ASAGUT9YFBYX15HNQDTF
  • Story Text: The United Nations Security Council waited on Wednesday for the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to nominate African candidates to succeed Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary-General to the United Nations.
    But late on Tuesday, U.N. envoys from OAU countries said their governments had not formally presented any candidates.
    Cameroon's President Paul Biya, the chairman of the OAU, suggested in a letter that African leaders could submit other candidates besides Boutros-Ghali. But the U.N. envoys indicated their governments needed more time to come up with names.
    African diplomats have informally suggested a number of names: Ivory Coast Foreign Minister Amara Essy, Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, Islamic Conference Secretary-General Salim A.Salim, Ugandan-born International Peace Academy President Olara Otunnu, and Ghana's Kofi Annan, the U.N.'s Under-Secretary-General for peace-keeping operations.
    But formally, the OAU says that Boutros-Ghali remains its candidate, and U.N. spokesman Sylvana Foa said Boutros-Ghali remains a candidate, despite the United States veto of his candidacy in a closed Security Council vote on November 19.
    Every U.N. Secretary-General has been offered a second term, and there is a consensus at the U.N. that if Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian, is rejected for a second term, an African should succeed him. France has told other members of the Security Council that it wants a "francophone," or French-speaking African to be secretary-general, if Boutros-Ghali is rejected.
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