ATTENTION - UPDATES with comments from Surakiart ///

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24, 2006 (AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers Monday pledged to help Thailand's Deputy Minister Surakiart Sathirathai in his quest for the UN's top job in the face of growing competition from other candidates. Surakiart met with the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign in Kuala Lumpur to boost his campaign, briefing them on his efforts so far. The ministers reaffirmed their endorsement of Surakiart as ASEAN's candidate and "discussed and agreed on a coordinated campaign strategy to be pursued in the next critical months," a statement released after the meeting said. They also "agreed to collectively and individually help seek support for the ASEAN candidate" from some 16 other countries attending ASEAN meetings this week in Malaysia. Surakiart explained after the meeting why he wanted to head the world body, which is sometimes criticised as ineffectual. "The United Nations may not be the best organisation that everyone wants to see, but there is no other better organisation at this point to deal with the issues of peace, security, development and human rights," he told reporters. "So I think I will have to work together in asking the United Nations to do more, member states will have to do more as well." Malaysia is hosting Asia's top security forum, which convenes Thursday, giving Surakiart access to figures like US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from China, India, Japan and South Korea. However Surakiart said he did not expect to meet Rice. "No I don't think so," he said, when asked by reporters. The consensus at the United Nations is that it is now Asia's turn to have a secretary general. The winning candidate would replace Ghana's Kofi Annan, who will step down at the end of this year after having completed two five-year terms. Indian candidate Shashi Tharoor, an undersecretary at the United Nations, has emerged as a favourite for the post. Surakiart declined to comment on his chances against Tharoor. "I have done my best and I will continue to do the best as the ASEAN candidate and I appreciate all the suggestions and advice from my friends in ASEAN," he said. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar defended a meeting Monday with Tharoor, who is in Kuala Lumpur for a conference organised by a local think tank. "There should not be any doubt, there should not be any question about ASEAN's support for the candidature of Dr Surakiart," he told a press conference. "In diplomacy we meet people all the time. The fact that they are adversaries or your opponents or they are contesting should not prevent us from meeting people." ey/dk/sst