Sri Lankan peace envoy to vie for UN Secretary General

The Head of Sri Lankan government'speace secretariat is to be fielded as a candidate for the position of the United Nation's Secretary General, official said in Colombo Friday.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told parliament that Jayantha Dhanapala who oversees coordination of the peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels would vie for the position when it falls vacant in the year 2007.

Kadirgamar said Sri Lanka has already begun the process of canvassing nations for the support of Dhanapala's candidature.

Analysts said that an Asian candidate maybe gets the next chance to have a nominee elected to fill the void after the incumbent Kofi Annan's retirement in two years.

Dhanapala, a former UN diplomat, held the chair in the UN disarmament committee in the late 1990s.

He was appointed in May this year as Head of the Sri Lankan government's peace secretariat that coordinates the Norwegian-backed peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Source: Xinhua