U.N. council makes way for reform

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (UPI) -- China has assumed the monthly presidency of the 15-member U.N. Security Council, with an unusual bow to the General Assembly for reform consideration.

Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York he made the schedule light to accommodate permanent representatives wanting to attend informal, assembly meetings on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's reform package.

"I intentionally arranged fewer meetings for the council this week," he said.

Two of those sessions were held Monday. The first was a closed-door meeting to approve the program of work and to hold consultations on Syria's promise to withdraw all troops, weaponry and intelligence apparatus from Lebanon by April 30.

The only other sessions were private ones concerning Bougainville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The assembly is to first hold a plenary session Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Wang said, which then was to break into smaller groups to consider different aspects of his proposals, laid down last month as part of his reform plans for a September Summit.

However, Wang says the panel, for the rest of the month, will focus on Iraq, the Middle East and Africa.