By Leigh Thomas

"Italy wants seat at UN Council"

The current organization of the United Nations and its Security Council is "a relic from the pre-globalization era", Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said in his speech at the UN's Millennium Summit on Thursday in New York.

Debate over how to reform the Security Council crawled on the agenda, as Japan, Germany and Italy all made their interest known, some loudly and some opting for a more oblique approach.

Aware that Japan and Germany may carry greater clout, Italy's diplomats have sought to take the high road, and on Thursday Mr. Amato spoke of the need to introduce "greater transparency, democracy and representation" into the workings of the UN's highest forum.

Publicly, and privately in a busy series of bilateral meetings, Mr. Amato is seeking support for Italy to obtain at least at two-year seat in the next Security Council, where reform is likely to be a major theme.

Italy "has heavily invested its energies and resources in the UN system", Mr. Amato said, and it would "not to be a friendly gesture" if Rome was forced to sit on the sidelines. Italy is a large partner in the European Union and will hold the rotating presidency of the G-8 next year, he added.

As it stands, the Security Council consists of five permanent members with veto powers, and 10 rotating two-year seats. The General Assembly has been discussing increasing both numbers for the past seven years.

Japan and Germany, respectively the No. 2 and the No. 3 contributors to the UN's overall budget, each want seats, as their leaders made clear in recent days, and their World War II adversaries - the United States, France and Britain - are allegedly amenable to that proposal.

Claiming that a "simple enlargement" of the Security Council to include Japan and Germany would not make the organization more democratic, Mr. Amato said if those countries were given permanent seats then "the world must ask itself" if Italy, too, has a valid claim.

Italy is the fifth-largest financial contributor and is heavily committed to UN peacekeeping missions.

Mr. Amato said on Wednesday that he believed Italy was likely to obtain one of the rotating seats in the next Security Council, edging out Norway and Ireland even though Italy held the post only four years ago. "We've been gathering approval (from other countries) and we have a good chance", he said.

According to reports Friday in La Stampa, Mr. Amato was also seeking to have Emma Bonino, formerly the European Human Rights Commissioner, named to lead the UN High Commission for Refugees. The Turin daily said that Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini was lobbying for Giangiacomo Migone, chairman of the Senate's foreign affairs committee.