UN unveils sweeping plan to overhaul world body

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 30 (AFP) - The United Nations on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping proposal to overhaul the organisation, including the Security Council, in what would be the biggest UN reform since its founding in 1945.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who commissioned a one-year study by a panel of experts that produced the proposals, endorsed the plan in what he said was an effort to meet the new global challenges of the 21st century.
"What is needed is a comprehensive system of collective security, one that tackles both old and new threats and addresses the security concerns of all states -- rich and poor, weak and strong," Annan said.
He said the proposals, which must be approved by member nations, set out "a broad framework for collective security and indeed gives a broader meaning to that concept appropriate for the new millennium."

11/30/2004 17:16 GMT - AFP