5 new security council members
2005-10-10 22:09
New York - The UN general assembly on Monday elected Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia to become the five new non-permanent members of the security council from January 1.
The five countries secured the required two-thirds majority of the 191-member assembly in a secret ballot.
Congo, Ghana, Qatar and Slovakia were the only candidates presented by their respective regional groups, while Peru and Nicaragua were in contention for the Latin American-Caribbean seat.
Peru won 144 votes while Nicaragua could only manage 43.
The five new members will take up their seats from January 1 for a two-year period, replacing Algeria, Benin, the Philippines, Romania and Brazil.
The five other non-permanent members of the 15-member council are Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania.
Their terms runs through December 31 2006.
The council, the leading UN decision-making body, also has five veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.