UNITED NATIONS -- South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon seemed assured of becoming U.N. secretary general Monday after emerging unscathed from an informal Security Council straw poll in which each of the other five remaining candidates were vetoed. Ban led the field with 14 out of a possible 15 "encouragements" and no "discouragements," but one "no opinion" from a non-permanent council member. The five permanent members with veto power -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China, and France -- made no attempt to block his progress. Ban has led the field in all four straw polls the Security Council has held since July 14. All four polls were secret, but the decisive difference on Monday was that the five permanent members cast ballots in a different color (blue) from the 10 non-permanent members (white), and a veto would therefore have been instantly identifiable.
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