The debate over who will succeed Kofi Annan when he steps down in December as UN Secretary-General has become one of the hottest behind-the-scenes issues at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The latest poll of the 15 UN Security Council members showed South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to be the frontrunner, followed closely by UN Undersecretary General for Public Affairs Shashi Tharoor of India.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, when asked whether he believed being from India would play to his advantage, Tharoor points out that he's told the press in India it would mean "nothing at all."
 "I would say the same thing with regards to Asia. I would be an Asian secretary-general, but I would not be Asia's secretary-general. I would be a secretary-general for the entire world."
[[for 11pm only]Asked about the crisis in Darfur, he said he didn't believe the UN could march in without the consent of the Sudanese government.
"So what I would urge is that countries use a combination of diplomacy and pressure and maybe the combination is diplomatic pressure, but very strong pressure to get the government of Khartoum to see the error of its position and to try therefore to get their consent so that our robust UN force can go in."]
The council is expected to hold another straw poll on Thursday, September 28.
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Director: Liu Chi