In the wake of Saudi Arabia’s decision to turn down a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Abdallah Yahya A. Al-Mouallimi is calling for Arab states to be permanently represented on the U.N.’s most powerful body and for veto power to be eliminated.
The comments were made in an official statement to the United Nations by Al-Mouallimi on November 8th, 2013.
Blasting what the Kingdom views as an ineffective body that “has failed to tackle Middle East issues,” Al-Mouallimi asserted the Arab world’s interest in joining the UNSC but only as a full permanent member. Currently, only five nations are permanent members of the Security Council, and none are from the Middle East/North Africa region.
“The world today is not the world of the mid-twentieth century. We request a fair representation in the council so that it does not merely reflect an old world that no longer exists,” Al Mouallimi said on November 8th, 2013.
[To read the full text of the speech to the U.N., click here.]
