ADDIS ABABA, Nov 1, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The African Union (AU) on Tuesday urged its member states to remain united in the process of the reforms of the United Nations Security Council.

In a decision passed after Monday's extraordinary summit, the pan-African agency reaffirmed Africa 's common position as embodied in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration and Resolution.

The Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration and Resolution set out Africa 's position on UN reforms, which propose two permanent and two non-permanent seats for Africa in a reformed UN Security Council.

The one-day summit was attended by nine heads of state from Nigeria , Zimbabwe , Zambia , Sierra Leone , Ethiopia , Algeria , Tanzania , Lesotho and Djibouti . Other member states were represented by either their foreign ministers or other high- ranking officials.

Nigeria , Egypt , Senegal , Kenya and South Africa are the leading African candidates for the two proposed Security Council permanent seats.

In August, after heated debate, the 53-member bloc rejected calls to change its demand for a 26-member UN Security Council with six new permanent, veto-wielding seats, of which Africa will have two, and five non-permanent seats of which Africa would also have two.

At that time, AU leaders rejected an appeal to join the G4 grouping of Brazil , India , Japan and Germany that has proposed expanding the council to 25 members, with six new permanent seats without a veto power and four non-permanent seats.

The AU refusal led to a failure in September of UN leaders' agreement on possible reforms of the Security Council.

The Security Council is currently composed of 15 members, of whom five -- China, United States, France, Britain and Russia -- have veto power, while 10 non-permanent seats are elected for a two-year term.

Any changes on the Security Council composition have to be voted for by the UN General Assembly and can only be effected with a two-third majority of the 191 member states.

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