UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria, a country on the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism, was one of five nations elected on Monday to a seat on the prestigious 15-nation U.N. Security Council. (Read photo caption below)
Syria received 160 votes out of the 177 valid secret ballots cast by the U.N. General Assembly members. Despite last-minute appeals from 38 members of the U.S. Congress and objections from Israel, Washington did not campaign against Damascus, an action it probably would have lost.
Guinea and Cameroon, also running unopposed, received 173 and 172 votes respectively, for seats reserved for Africa. Bulgaria won 120 votes versus 53 for Belarus for the Eastern European seat.
Mexico, in a run-off ballot for the Latin American and Caribbean seat, defeated the Dominican Republic 138 to 40, achieving the required two-thirds vote. Mexico had not vied for a council seat since 1980-1981.
The Security Council has five permanent members with veto power -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. Another 10 nonpermanent members rotate for two-year terms, five of them each year, according to geographical regions.
Syria, Cameroon, Guinea, Bulgaria and Mexico in January replace Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia and Ukraine. The other five nonpermanent members, who serve until January 2003, are Colombia, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland and Norway.
The candidacy of Syria, which last served on the Security Council in 1970-1971, had been assured since March when it ran unopposed as a member of the 50-nation Asia regional grouping.
Under U.N. practice, an Arab nation gets a council seat each year, alternating between the African and the Asian group. No Middle East nation opposed Syria, which will replace Tunisia.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Mikhail Wehbe, Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, center, talks with Shamshad Ahmad, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.N., left and Kamalesh Sharma, India's ambassador to the U.N., right, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Monday, Oct. 8, 2001. Syria won a seat on the U.N. Security Council on Monday. (AP Photo/Osamu Honda)
- Oct 08 1:45 PM ET