British PM Blair calls for major reforms to modernise UN

May 27, 2006 Ottawa Citizen report - UN 'not legitimate' now, Blair says - excerpt:

"A Security Council which has France as a permanent member, but not Germany; Britain, but not Japan; China, but not India, to say nothing of the absence of proper representation from Latin America or Africa, cannot be legitimate in the modern world," Mr Blair said.

While differences over Iraq split the Security Council, Mr Blair argued the UN needs the "capacity to intervene militarily," citing the need to stop the killing in Sudan's Darfur region as an example.

Mr Blair said the secretary general should also be given increased powers over management and spending, many of which reside with the General Assembly, where developing countries hold a majority. Mr Blair called the General Assembly's control over hiring and firing the UN's top names "absurd," and many observers say it has led to political cronyism at the world body.