United Nations Radio

The UN General Assembly on Friday elected five countries to serve two-year terms on the UN Security Council, beginning January 1st, 2009.

Japan, Uganda, Mexico, Turkey and Austria won the required two-thirds majority of votes in the Assembly.

They will replace Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa on the Council as non-permanent members.

The representative of Uganda, Ambassador Francis K. Butagira, describes the election to the Council as a vote of confidence in his country.

"We are looking forward to playing a dynamic role on the Council, especially being a small country, we hope we shall act as the bridge between big powers and ourselves so that maybe we can reach compromise and we are looking forward to playing that role. And lastly since most of the conflicts are on the African continent, we hope to play a very active role towards resolution of those conflicts and maintenance of international peace and security."

The 15-nation Council, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, is made up of five permanent members -Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States and 10 non-permanent members.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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