UNGA elects Azerbaijan as UNSC non-permanent member

The General Assembly late Monday elected Azerbaijan to serve for the first time in its history as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the next two years beginning January 1, 2012. The Assembly elected Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo last Friday to serve as non-permanent members of the Council for the same period, but, after nine rounds of voting, it failed to pick Azerbaijan or Slovenia which were competing for the Eastern European seat in the Council. It resumed elections Monday. Azerbaijan, a member of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was elected Monday on the 17th round of balloting after Slovenia withdrew its bid at the end of the 16th round. The newly elected members will fill seats to be vacated on December 31st by Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They will join Colombia, Germany, India, Portugal and South Africa which will continue to serve as Council non permanent members until December 31st, 2012. The Council's five permanent members with veto power are the US, UK, France, Russia and China