SAUDI ARABIA REJECTS UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT

       Riyadh, 14 Dhul Hijja 1434/18 October 2013 (MINA) – Saudi Arabia, elected as the non-permanent member for UN Security Council, on Friday rejected its seat, accusing the UN of being ineffective in dealing with international conflicts.

      “The kingdom sees that the method and work mechanism and the double standards in the Security Council prevent it from properly shouldering its responsibilities towards world peace,” Saudi Arabia said in a statement released on Friday, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

      The kingdom was elected as one of the Council’s 10 non-permanent members saying the 15-member body is incapable of resolving world conflicts such as the Syrian civil war.

      The kingdom, which has backed the Syrian opposition in their struggle to topple Assad, has in the past criticized the international community for failing to halt the civil war in Syria, now in its third year, the conflict has so far killed over 115,000 people.

      The Security Council seats are highly coveted because they give countries a strong voice in matters dealing with international peace and security.

       The 15-member council includes five permanent members with veto power — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

        After the vote, Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said his country’s election was “a reflection of a longstanding policy in support of moderation and in support of resolving disputes by peaceful means.”

        But the statement from Riyadh on Friday struck a dramatically different tone, Washington Post reports.

        The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Council has not been able to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the past decades and has failed to transform the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).