New proposals unveiled for Security Council reform

[maddezmom]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly unveiled proposals that would send plans to expand the elite U.N. Security Council back to the drawing board and instead enlarge the elite body on a temporary basis.

While a vast majority of U.N. members believe the 15-member Council is unrepresentative, dominated by industrial nations, a report on Friday acknowledged that rivalries on who should have a seat have stymied solutions for decades.

The Security Council, the most powerful U.N. body, which can make mandatory decisions on war and peace, has five veto-bearing permanent members given seats when the United Nations was created in 1945.

They are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, considered World War II victors, while another 10 nations rotate for two-year terms according to regions.

The new report was requested by the 192-member Assembly, which assigned five "facilitators," the ambassadors of Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Netherlands and Tunisia, who drew up proposals after three months of consultations.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070421/wl_nm/un_council_reform_dc;_ylt=AmSv9BidAtiLMCozMsRsz3Fm.3QA