By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJapan refused to join Germany, India and Brazil in a new bid to get permanent seats on an expanded UN Security Councilon Saturday, deciding instead to negotiate with the United States to try to come up with a proposal that Washington won't oppose.
Japan's decision not to co-sponsor the same General Assembly resolution it wholeheartedly supported last year with the three other countries was the latest twist in the bitterly divisive debate on reshaping the powerful Security Council to reflect the realities of the 21st century.
The decision by Japan to strike out on its own left the so-called Group of Four reform partners looking more like a Group of Three, though Japan, Germany, India and Brazil all denied any break-up.