Fiji, Oct. 19 -- The United States has called for the abolition of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation, dismissing its annual work and visits to the Pacific as a waste of UN resources.

Speaking at the UN Fourth Committee on 15 October, the United States said the committee had "outlived its original purpose" and urged the termination of its mandate, escalating its opposition to the international decolonisation process.

The committee, formally known as the Special Committee on Political and DecoloniSation, considers the status of non-self-governing territories and supports their peoples' right to self-determination.

Six of the 17 territories remaining on the UN list are in the Pacific: American Samoa, French Polynesia,...