Global Policy Forum

By Paul Knox

A United Nations vote that's normally a shoo-in will be fiercely contested tomorrow as Sudan, whose forces have bombed civilian targets in a long-running war with rebels, seeks a two-year term on the Security Council.

Both Sudan and tiny Mauritius will be on the ballot as the 189-member General Assembly fills one of three council seats reserved for Africa. Sudan was nominated earlier this year by a group of African states, and the assembly almost always rubber-stamps African countries' choices for the 15-member council, the UN's most powerful body. But Sudan's candidacy is considered highly inappropriate by human-rights groups and many countries -- notably the United States, which has thrown its support behind Mauritius.

At U.S. insistence, the council has maintained limited diplomatic sanctions against Sudan since 1996 in retaliation for its alleged sheltering of terrorists. And the Sudanese government has been widely criticized after bombing civilian targets, including a school and church missions, in its war against the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Tomorrow's ballot is secret. As a matter of policy, Canada refuses to say how it will vote in UN elections. But Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Carl Schwenger left little doubt that Ottawa will not support Sudan. He noted in an interview that, under the UN Charter, council members are supposed to be chosen for their contributions to maintaining world peace and security, as well as other UN goals. "That's of primary importance to us," he said. Other factors include a country's internal situation and "the extent to which they share our values and priorities," Mr. Schwenger said, later adding: "I think we don't share the same values with Sudan."

The fight for the Security Council seat pits Africa's largest country against its fourth-smallest. Mauritius, a tranquil Indian Ocean island and former British colony, exports sugar and clothing. Sudan, whose capital is Khartoum, has newfound wealth from a controversial oil project in which Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. participates.

Under heavy fire from human-rights critics, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy ordered a report on Talisman's activities last year, promising to punish the company if the oil project was deemed to be stoking the flames of war. The report by investigator John Harker found precisely that, but Mr. Axworthy backed off the threat after an intense lobbying campaign by Talisman.

Senior UN officials have criticized Sudan in hard-hitting reports. UN investigator Leonardo Franco found last year that the government and the SPLA were guilty of flagrant human-rights abuses. Countries seeking council seats traditionally offer lavish entertainment and hints of aid to the UN's poorer members.

"I strongly suspect that Khartoum has been sending diplomats to African capitals with full briefcases," said Mel Middleton of Freedom Quest International, a Calgary human-rights group highly critical of the activities in Sudan. The race is "much too close to call," said David Malone, president of the New York-based International Peace Academy and a keen student of council elections. Several of Mauritius's neighbours in southern Africa will probably support it but it will suffer if it is seen as part of a U.S. power play, he said. "Mauritius's candidacy is perceived as simply a blocking tactic to prevent Sudan from being seated, and countries by and large don't like being told what to do."

The council is dominated by its five veto-wielding permanent members -- China, France, Britain, Russia and the United States. Five of the 10 temporary seats change hands every year on Jan. 1.

Another contest is raging for two seats allocated to a group of countries known as Western Europe and Others, currently held by Canada and the Netherlands. > Norway and Ireland have been campaigning for several years for the 2001-02 term, but are facing a late challenge from Italy. Candidates need the support of two-thirds of assembly members to win.

Norway, with a generous foreign-aid budget and tradition of UN activism, is expected to win the most votes, but it could be overtaken by Ireland. "Ireland is a small, hard-working, popular country . . .," Mr. Malone said. "Italy is large and influential, with substantial relationships in the world." No one this year seems to have matched Greece's unsuccessful 1998 bid against Canada and the Netherlands.

Greece's bid included a cruise in the Aegean Sea, ostensibly linked to the Olympic Games but with a guest list that included 100 UN ambassadors. But "all countries are as lavish as they can decently be" in entertaining at UN headquarters in New York, Mr. Malone noted.