Jayantha Dhanapala finished fourth in the Security Council's straw poll in July

Jayantha Dhanapala is a diplomat with almost 40 years experience, mainly in the international arena. He is currently an advisor to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Mr Dhanapala was one of the earliest candidates to express interest in the secretary-general's post.

Considered a UN insider, Mr Dhanapala worked for 10 years in senior management at the world body.

In 1998, he was hand-picked by Mr Annan to serve as undersecretary-general for disarmament affairs, following reforms the previous year. He piloted UN attempts to stem the use of small arms and landmines.

He has said that coming from a small developing country means he has less "baggage" than candidates from bigger countries.

He also believes that "being neither a total insider nor an outsider", he has "the blend of experience and understanding of the UN to implement reform".

In a recent interview, Mr Dhanapala said that if he succeeded, organisational reform would top his agenda. He said that another priority would be achieving the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN. He said the world body derived its legitimacy from this and other core values.

"The European Commission not long ago had to go through sweeping reform. So do NGOs and other private bodies. We need not be defensive about reforms, but there has to be zero tolerance for unethical conduct," he said in a recent interview with the Singapore-based Straits Times.

Mr Dhanapala, a Mandarin speaker, entered the Sri Lankan foreign service in 1965.

He served as his country's ambassador to Washington from 1995 to 1997, and also has held diplomatic postings in London, Delhi and Beijing. He has long experience working with the Non-Aligned Movement.

He left the United Nations in 2003 and served as the secretary-general of Sri Lanka's "peace secretariat", the department responsible for negotiating with the Tamil Tigers.

He finished fourth in the Security Council's straw poll in July.