At a General Assembly meeting on the reform plan submitted by the so-called G4 group of nations -- Japan, Germany, Brazil and India -- Tahir-Kheli said support for the G4 plan was insufficient, and member states were too divided to vote. She stressed the need to consider the potential effect on the UN if the G4 pushed through a vote at this juncture.

The statement is the clearest rejection yet by the U.S. of the G4 resolution and has put a dampener on the group’s growing hopes to pass their Security Council reform plan by the end of the month, observers say.

The G4 submitted to the General Assembly on June 6 a plan that would expand the permanent seats on the council from five to 11, and non-permanent members from 10 to 14. Each of them hopes to occupy one of seats themselves, with Japan’s bid provoking massive protests in the region.

The U.S., which already has a permanent seat, backs a plan to boost the number of permanent members by one or two and the non-permanent members by four or more.

The G4 is currently trying to woo the 53 votes of the African Union armed with official development assistance (ODA). But the U.S. -- the world's largest contributor of ODA -- Korea, Italy, Pakistan, Canada and other states have formed an alliance called "Uniting for Consensus" that opposes the G4 plan, limiting chances that the G4 will be able to command the cooperation of developing nations in Africa, Asia, South America and the former Eastern Bloc. The G4 resolution will need support from two-thirds of member states or 128 out of 191.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier appealed for restraint when the debate on Security Council reform showed signs of overheating.

(englishnews@chosun.com )