Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein Jordan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, has entered the race to become the next U.N. secretary-general, he said on Tuesday. Zeid becomes the fifth declared candidate to succeed Ghanaian Kofi Annan, who completes his second five-year term at the end of the year. Zeid’s nomination was submitted by Jordan’s government.

The other four candidates are Asians, and most U.N. members say it is Asia’s turn to lead the world body. Jordan is technically a member of the Asian group of countries at the United Nations. The other candidates so far are South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, Shashi Tharoor of India, the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information; Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former U.N. disarmament official; and Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand’s deputy prime minister. Source [Reuters]

This is great news and the Prince is well qualified, having earned his BA in Poli-Sci at Johns Hopkins and a PhD in history from Cambridge. He served as Jordan’s deputy permanent representative before his current posting there as the permanent representative. He is the current president was president of the Assembly of States Parties — the management oversight and legislative body of the International Criminal Court — and is a political affairs officer with UNPROFOR in the former Yugoslavia. [There’s more here in Arabic]

I wish him the best of luck. I can’t imagine how happy I will be if he succeeds! He will certainly put Jordan on the global map!