S.Korean FM calm over his advantage in UN chief election

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki- moon was calm on Friday over his advantage in the latest straw poll for the next secretary-general of the United Nations (UN).

"It is still too early to draw a conclusion," Ban told reporters here upon his arrival at the Incheon International Airport. Ban was back from New York after attending the UN General Assembly meeting there.

"I will wait with a humble heart for the results of the fourth straw poll and the official election," said Ban, who received the outcome of the third straw poll at the airport.

Ban got 13 "encouragement" votes, one of "discouragement" and one of no opinion at Friday's informal poll (Seoul time) of the 15- member UN Security Council (UNSC), which was the third time for Ban to keep advantage in polls for the UN chief, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

According to Yonhap, Shashi Tharoor, the Indian UN undersecretary-general for public information, was in the second place with eight encouragement votes in the third straw poll.

However, it is not clear whether Ban gained the crucial approval of all five veto-wielding permanent members of the UNSC, as they used the same colored ballot papers as the 10 non-standing members.

The five permanent members of the UNSC will cast ballots on blue papers while the non-standing members will use white ones in the fourth straw poll for the UN chief set for Oct. 2.

Under UN regulation, the candidate for the UN chief must get unanimous approval from the five permanent members of the UNSC, namely China, the United States, France, Russia and Britain.

The outgoing secretary-general, Kofi Annan, will step down at the end of this year.

Source: Xinhua