Clinton Backs German Security Council Seat

Former US president Bill Clinton supports an expansion of the UN Security Council to include Germany and Japan as permanent members, he said in an interview to be

published Thursday. Asked about the countries' troubled bid to gain permanent seats on the Security Council as part of a sweeping UN reform, Clinton told German newsweekly Die Zeit that the body must become more representative to tackle the issues facing it. "Germany should belong, and Japan too," he said, in comments published in German. "India too, probably. The Latin Americans should get a seat, either for Brazil or a rotating seat. To address all the regional economic and political problems, including those of Africa, you need a council with 24 members." Clinton added that he did not believe his successor George W. Bush was at the root of US resistance to the plan to expand the Security Council.