COLOMBO, March 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Sri Lanka has officially kicked off its campaign to win the support for its nominee to succeed Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary General, state radio here said Saturday.

    Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation said that the government has asked Sri Lanka's foreign missions to lobby the support for Jayantha Dhanapala's candidature to head the world body after Annan's term ends in December 2006.

    Dhanapala, a former UN diplomat serving in the disarmament committee and the weapons inspection team in Iraq, is currently the head of the Sri Lankan government's peace secretariat handlingthe Norwegian backed peace process with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

    He is one of Sri Lanka's internationally known diplomats and one of the two candidates to declare the candidacy for the top UN post so far.

    Sri Lanka announced Dhanapala's UN bid in December last year totake the advantage of the Asian continent's turn to have its first UN Secretary General since U Thant of Burma now known as Myanmar. Enditem