U.S. has no qualms with Vietnam, Libya

NEW YORK — U.S. officials, who once might have blanched at the thought of having Vietnam and Libya on the U.N. Security Council, appear satisfied that the election of the two nations next week will serve American interests in the world.

The two countries are running unopposed to assume seats on the powerful 15-nation council beginning in January, where their votes could be instrumental in deciding the world body’s response to international crises.

Other countries likely to be elected to two-year terms on the council include Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic or Costa Rica, and Croatia or the Czech Republic.

The United States worked to block Libya from gaining a council seat twice in the past 15 years, and for many years had hostile relations with Vietnam, a communist state with which it fought a long, bitter war in the 1960s and 1970s.

But the United States — which as a matter of policy does not comment on what countries it supports for the council — has raised no objection to the election of the two countries this year, and State Department officials said privately they are comfortable with the nominations.

Other U.N. observers said that, whatever the exact final makeup of the new council, they think it will largely be supportive of U.S. interests in the world.

Vietnam and Libya are both eager to resume trade and investment relations with the United States and the West, and are unlikely to take stands that could jeopardize those ties, these observers said.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is an important member of the African Union, and his country’s mission in New York will likely take its cues from the AU, rather than the Arab League.

Tripoli also has sought positions of responsibility in order to rehabilitate its reputation on the world stage following the resolution of long-running disputes about the detention of five Bulgarian nurses and the 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Libya assumed a key role in the search for an end to the fighting in Darfur, Sudan, by hosting peace talks to begin this week, and is likely to host the next U.N. anti-racism conference. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to visit Col. Gadhafi in Libya later this month.

Vietnam, for its part, has had diplomatic relations with the United States since 1995 and — while still a one-party communist state — is developing ever-expanding trade ties with America. It has never been on the Security Council.

The council has five permanent members with veto power — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The remaining 10 seats are filled for two-year terms, with five new countries elected on a regional basis each year. Libya, Vietnam and Burkina Faso are unopposed for seats next year.

The Dominican Republic and Costa Rica are locked in competition for the seat representing Latin America and the Caribbean — a contest that has involved letters, luncheons and at least one after-hours salsa party in a rarely used U.N. lounge.

Croatia and the Czech Republic are politely campaigning for the seat set aside for Eastern Europe.

Belgium, Italy, Indonesia, Panama and South Africa have one more year to serve in their two-year terms. The departing members are Republic of Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia.

The new council will have to deal with slow-simmering conflicts, as well as flaring crises.

The most pressing issues include Iran’s uranium-enrichment program; peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Sudan, and possibly Somalia; and a tribunal to prosecute suspects in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.