South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has won an informal UN Security Council vote to find Secretary General Kofi Annan's successor, diplomats say.

The 15 members of the Security Council voted on seven candidates in their third secret ballot on Thursday.

Mr Ban comfortably beat Shashi Tharoor, the Indian UN Undersecretary General for public information who came second.

Mr Annan is due to step down at the end of the year after heading the organisation since 1997.

Other candidates come from Thailand, Jordan and Sri Lanka. Latvia's president and an Afghan candidate entered the contest recently.

CANDIDATE LIST
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai Afghanistan
Ban Ki-moon South Korea
Jayantha Dhanapala Sri Lanka
Prince Zeid al-Hussein Jordan
Surakiart Sathitathai Thailand
Shashi Tharoor India
President Vaira Vike-Freibergai Latvia


Candidate profiles
In the latest vote delegates indicated whether they "encouraged", or "discouraged" a candidate, or whether they had no opinion.

In Monday's vote the five permanent members of the Security Council, who have the power of veto, will vote on coloured ballot papers, indicating the likelihood of unanimity among the key players.

The next secretary general is likely to be from an Asian country because of a convention that the position should rotate around by region.

The Security Council will choose its preferred candidate, who must then be confirmed by a vote in the General Assembly.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon smiles during a meeting with reporters at his office in Seoul on Tuesday. Ban moved a step closer to becoming the next secretary-general of the United Nations when he won a crucial informal poll with the backing of all five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Ban Ki-Moon certain to become UN chief

UNITED NATIONS - South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, set to be formally endorsed as UN chief Kofi Annan's successor Monday, is the only candidate left in the race as all other contenders withdrew, a UN spokeswoman said Friday.

All six rivals who initially threw their hats into the ring have informed the Security Council that they were withdrawing their candidacies, UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

The last to pull out were Indian diplomat Shashi Tharoor, the UN undersecretary general for communications and public information who finished second to Ban in informal straw polls, and former Thai deputy prime minister Surakiart Sathirathai.

Earlier Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Jordan's UN ambassador Prince Zeid al-Hussein, Afghanistan's former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala also withdrew.

Last Monday Ban, 62, won a decisive fourth straw poll in the Security Council after securing crucial backing from its five veto-wielding permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States). He had already won three previous polls by a wide margin.

Under the UN Charter, the secretary general is elected by the 192-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.

After its formal vote next Monday, the Security Council is widely expected to recommend that the 192-member General Assembly in turn endorse Ban to succeed Annan when the Ghanaian UN chief steps down at the end of December after 10 years in office.

Agence France-Presse

That sounds a little strange, on the other hand UN is warning North Korea to stop Nuclear activities and Ben is going to be the next UN Chief :roll: