The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to nominate Secretary General Kofi Annan to serve a second five-year term at the helm of the United Nations, said the Washington Post.
The action by the 15-member council is all but certain to be endorsed Friday by the 189-nation General Assembly. Annan, a 63-year-old Ghanian diplomat, ran unopposed in an election six months before his term formally ends Dec. 31.
The nomination was applauded by diplomats, human rights activists and UN staffers who credited Annan with slimming the organization's bureaucracy, raising the profile of human rights and increasing the UN's role in peacekeeping.
"We think Kofi Annan is doing an excellent job, including his advocacy of a more efficient and effective UN system," James B. Cunningham, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, was quoted as saying by the Post.
In a news conference, Annan said he was "deeply honored" and thanked the council for its "trust and support." But he declined to speak at length about the election until after the General Assembly vote.
Meanwhile, China and Russia welcomed Annan's reelection, putting aside their unease with his promotion of the UN's right to intervene in conflicts on humanitarian grounds. Annan has refrained from using his post as a bully pulpit to criticize their human rights records, said the paper – Albawaba.com
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