South Africa and Nigeria will "work together" to secure the two permanent seats for Africa in the reformed United Nations Security Council.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad made the announcement today at the preparatory meeting of the SA-Nigeria Bi-National Commission scheduled to take place later this year.

Pahad said while there were six African countries vying for the continent's two permanent seats on the council, "South Africa and Nigeria have decided to work together to ensure we get the two seats in the Security Council."

Commentators have tipped South Africa and Nigeria as the two strongest candidates for the seats, due to their involvement in peacekeeping operations in the continent and because both countries have the biggest economies.

According to the criteria laid down by the panel on UN reforms, new members of the council should have contributed "most to the UN financially, militarily and diplomatically," particularly through contributions to the UN's assessed budgets and participation in mandated peace operations.

The other candidates are Libya, Egypt, Senegal and Kenya.

However, Pahad said while the six African countries sought candidacy for the seats, the whole issue "should not divert us as Africans from dealing with poverty and underdevelopment in the continent."

Pahad's statement comes after President Thabo Mbeki's parliamentary comments last month, reiterating that Africa's two seats should have veto powers, to enable the global body to fight poverty and underdevelopment.

Developing countries are arguing against the current power balance within the UN, which they say has resulted in the UN ignoring global poverty, genocide, human rights abuses and the underdevelopment of developing nations.

Currently only the US, France, Britain, China and Russia have permanent seats and veto powers while developing nations share among themselves rotational, non-permanent roles, with little power.

A panel set up by the UN last year proposed two models of enlargement of the body, suggesting the expansion of the Council to 24 members.

Model A proposes the addition of six new permanent seats, with no veto powers, and three new two-year term elected seats, while model B creates a new category of eight seats, renewable every four years, and one new two-year non-renewable seat.

However, neither the panel's document nor the Secretary General's March 2005 report titled "Enlarging Freedom" expresses a preference for one of the two models. World leaders will debate the issue at the General Assembly in September. - BuaNews