U.N. Members Concerned Over Reform Plans

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. member states raised concerns Monday to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over his plan to split the growing and overburdened U.N. peacekeeping department and move stymied global disarmament efforts into his office.

Last month, Ban was forced to drop a key reform proposal that would have merged the important U.N. departments dealing with political affairs and disarmament, both currently headed by undersecretaries-general, because of opposition from the powerful Nonaligned Movement.

His new proposal would keep the two departments separate. The Department of Political Affairs would continue to be headed by an undersecretary-general but the Department for Disarmament Affairs would become part of the secretary-general's office and be headed by a special representative with the lower rank of assistant secretary-general.

"I can't say there is opposition as much as there are questions and concerns raised" about the reform proposals, said Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, a key member of the Nonaligned Movement representing 118 mainly developing countries who account for more than 60 percent of the U.N.'s membership. "But if these questions and concerns are overcome" then the reforms could be approved by the General Assembly.

India's U.N. Ambassador Nirupam Sen, another key Nonaligned member, said his country's major concern was whether moving disarmament into the secretary-general's office would activate the disarmament agenda, which has been deadlocked for several years.

Some nuclear "have-nots" complain that the nuclear-weapons states are moving much too slowly toward disarmament, which is called for in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. They point to President Bush's rejection of the nuclear test-ban treaty.

Sen said he raised the issue of unity of command in the field during peacekeeping operations if they are split between one department focusing on operations and another focusing on management, procurement and logistics.

"We have to see that unity of command on the field is maintained," he said. "And the secretary-general gave us an assurance that he will ensure unity of command on the field _ but we have to see in detailed discussions how that is done."

Ban told ambassadors at the end of a three-hour closed-door meeting that the undersecretary-general for the proposed new Department of Peace Operations "will be responsible for ensuring unity of command of all peacekeeping decisions" _ and the proposed Department of Field Support will report to the undersecretary-general for Peace Operations.

The new U.N. chief, who took over on Jan. 1, had hoped to win General Assembly approval for the reforms this month before he named his new senior management team.

But the Nonaligned Movement said it wants more details on the reform proposals and a normal budget review, which will delay the speedy approval the secretary-general sought.

Ban said in his speech to ambassadors that he has decided not to link the reforms to the appointments and will make senior appointments in the next week or so, several ambassadors said.

Egypt's ambassador said the Nonaligned Movement was pressing for the appointments to be made now and the reforms to be decided later.

"That's what we want," he said.