Bush wants Far-Easterner as UN Chief

Washington: The US is looking at a candidate from East Asia to be the next UN Secretary General.

An indication to this effect became clear when US President George Bush was asked about the successor to Annan during an interview with print media journalists at the White House Roundtable interview with the foreign media on the eve of the President's visit to Russia for the G-8 Summit.

Several attempts were made by the reporters to persuade Bush to name whoever the US is backing, but he said: "As I understand it, - traditionally, there's kind of a rotation of regions - and we're really looking at the Far East right now for the Secretary General."

The only far East Asian candidate in the run for the post is South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon.

He was asked whether the US would support Price Zeid, of Jordan's royal family, and he evaded a direct reply saying this was the first time he had heard such a suggestion.

Asked whether he would be against a Muslim in the post, he said: "Not at all, I would not be against a Muslim."

He said "the criterion I am looking for is somebody who wants to spread liberty and enhance peace, do difficult things like confront tyranny, worry about the human condition, blow the whistle on human rights violations."

India has named UN official Shashi Tharoor as its official candidate and the three other declared Asian candidates are Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai; South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon; and former UN Under Secretary-General for Disarmament Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka.

Although Tharoor's name has been making the rounds since last year, India named him as its chosen candidate this month, after the UN Security Council decided to release its first list of candidates, by July 15, to succeed Annan after he steps down at the end of this year.

Annan's successor, who will be chosen by the Council around October, will take over on January 1, 2007.