28 Asian, Arab Nations Support Asian Becoming Next UN Chief

By Park Song-wu
May 25, 2006
The Korea Times
Original Source: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200605/kt2006052517472111980.htm

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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tanzania on Thursday, after finishing his visit to Doha, Qatar, where he attended a two-day regional forum. 
At the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) forum, 28 top diplomats from Asia and the Middle East adopted the Doha declaration that expresses support for the election of an Asian to the U.N. secretary-general's position. 
Ban declared his candidacy for the U.N.'s top job in February. 
In Doha, he held bilateral talks with 12 foreign ministers on the sidelines of the fifth ACD forum, including Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. 
Ban and Aso agreed to resume negotiations for the demarcation of the two countries' exclusive economic zones June 12-13 in Tokyo. 
During his meeting with Li, Ban exchanged views on the North Korean nuclear crisis, inter-Korean relations, and North Korean refugees. 
The ACD participants chose South Korea as the venue for the next ACD meeting. 
Ban will stay for two days in Tanzania on the first leg of his three-nation tour in Africa that will also take him to Rwanda May 27-28 and South Africa May 28-29. 
His African trip aims to discuss Seoul's ``Africa Initiative'' that was announced by President Roh Moo-hyun during his visit to Nigeria in March when he promised to triple Seoul's budget for its Official Development Assistance to around $100 million by 2008. 
In all three countries, Ban plans to pay courtesy calls to heads of state and hold ministerial-level talks. He also plans to meet with officials from Somalia's interim government to ask their help for the safe release of a South Korean fishing vessel and its 25-member crew that were kidnapped in early April by an armed Somali faction. 
After finishing his tour of Africa, Ban will travel to New York on May 31 where he plans to attend a U.N. consultation session on HIV/AIDS, and to Washington where he will hold a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice. 
He returns to Seoul on June 4.