A top German official on Wednesday signalled his country's intent to push on for expansion of the U.N. Security Council despite clear opposition expressed by the United States. "If we do not push through this reform now, the United Nations will suffer a heavy loss of standing" in the world, said Volker Ruehe, chairman of the foreign relations committee in the German Bundestag, or parliament, DPA reported. Debate has heated up this week in the U.N. General Assembly over a proposal from Germany, India, Brazil and Japan that they join an expanded Security Council as permanent members - a role now held only by the World War II victors, the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France. A U.S. representative, Shirin Tahir-Kheli, a senior adviser on U.N. reform for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urged the General Assembly on Tuesday to reject the proposal from the so-called G4 because it was premature and having a divisive effect on the U.N. membership. --More 2120 Local Time 1820 GMT
