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South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon has emerged as the clear favorite to succeed Kofi Annan as secretary general after winning his third informal straw poll in the Security Council.

The 62-year-old career diplomat finished ahead of India's Shashi Tharoor, a UN undersecretary general for communications and public information, and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the only woman in the seven-member field.

Tharoor had already finished second in the first two polls.

It was an honorable performance for Vike-Freiberga, who along with Afghanistan's former finance minister Ashraf Ghani did not take part in the two previous informal polls held in July and September 14.

Ban thus consolidated his front-runner status in the race to succeed Annan when the Ghanaian secretary general steps down at the end of December after 10 years in office.

Returning to Seoul on Friday after attending the UN General Assembly in New York, Ban expressed caution about his prospects of being elected as the next UN secretary general.

"It is still too early to jump to a conclusion," the top South Korean diplomat told reporters.

He received the outcome of the third straw poll upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.

"I will wait with a humble heart for the results of the fourth straw poll and the official election," Ban said.

As in the two previous rounds, the 15 council members, including the five veto-wielding permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States had the options in Thursday's round of casting "encouraging," "discouraging" and "no opinion" ballots.

China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that Ban received 13 encouraging, one negative and one "no opinion" votes, compared with 8 positive, three negative and four "no opinion" for Tharoor and seven positive, six negative and two "no opinion" for Vike-freiberga, diplomats said.

But as Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin reiterated on Thursday, the Latvian president will face a certain veto from Moscow which has accused Riga of violating the rights of minority Russians living in the Baltic state.

Trailing in Thursday's secret-ballot contest were Surakiart Sathirathai, deputy prime minister of the ousted Thai government, followed by Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, Jordan's UN ambassador Prince Zeid al-Hussein and Ghani, the diplomats added.

Another straw poll involving the seven candidates was scheduled for Monday.

Diplomats said it would bring more clarity to the race as for the first time differentiated colored ballot sheets will be used for permanent and non-permanent members, which will make it possible to determine whether a candidate faces opposition from a veto-wielding member.

"At that point it is more clear and more fair to the candidates," a Western diplomat said. "It will then be up to some candidates to decide whether they should drop out."

A decisive win by Ban in Monday's contest would virtually doom the chances of his rivals, although new candidates could theoretically step forward.

The selection process accelerated as US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton this week again urged the Council to agree on a candidate by early October before its choice can be forwarded to the 192-member General Assembly for endorsement.

Under the UN Charter, the secretary general is elected by the 192-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the council. In practice, the five permanent members have dominated the succession process.

Qatar's UN Ambassador Nassir al-Nasser told reporters that a formal council vote could be held in the second or third week of October.

There is a broad consensus in the world body that Annan must be replaced by an Asian in line with an unwritten rule of geographic rotation.

Asia has not held the post since U Thant, a Burmese, served from 1961-71.

Addressing a New York think tank on Wednesday, Ban said that if elected, his priorities would be to turn the world body into a leaner, more efficient and more accountable organization by overhauling management practices and to rebuild trust among member states and within the UN secretariat.

He also echoed Washington's demand for a more efficient use of the UN's limited resources, saying: "We need to avoid redundancies and maximize our strength so can we can deliver more."

Ban has spent 36 years in the South Korean foreign service, including 10 years on United Nations-related missions.

He was South Korea's ambassador to the UN for two years from 2001 and also led the cabinet of the president of the 56th UN General Assembly.

(China Daily September 30, 2006)