MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Arab UN Security Council permanent member suggests Brazil.

Brazil suggested that an Arab country be incorporated to the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim said that the option should be addressed in the coming US reform talks since "an Arab presence in the Security Council would better interpret the diversity of the African continent".

"We may have to think in an Arab country. An equilibrium among the different regions must exist", said Mr. Amorim in an interview with the government news agency, Agencia Brasil. Mr. Amorim made the statement on his return from a five African countries visit to promote political, trade and financial links.

The visit was also interpreted by local analysts as a lobbying effort to consolidate Brazil as a regional power and improve its chances of holding a permanent seat in the UN Security Council when the reform discussions begin.

Mr. Amorim recalled that last December UN Secretary General Kofi Annan received a report from a panel of international relations experts with reform proposals that are scheduled to be considered as of next January 27.

One of the ideas in the report, "which most interests Brazil", admitted Mr. Amorim is the creation of six new permanent seats in the UN Security Council which would be distributed, two for Africa and the rest among Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The UN Security Council has five permanent members: United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France, plus ten non permanent representatives selected from different continents.