UN yet to receive official Saudi notification on seat rejection: Spokesperson

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - Saudi Arabia has yet to send an official notification to the United Nations about its decision to reject a non-permanent seat at the Security Council, UN secretary-general's spokesperson said Monday in New York.

"The Security Council Affairs Division, which would be the conduit for correspondence to reach the Security Council, has not received anything, and neither has the Executive Office of the Secretary-General on the 38th floor," Martin Nesirky told reporters in a daily press briefing.

Saudi Arabia won a non-permanent, rotating seat at the 15-nation Security Council for two years in an election held at the General Assembly last Friday.

In an unprecedented move in the history of the Security Council, Saudi Arabia said it rejected the prestigious seat citing "double standards" of the UN body.

"The manner, the mechanisms of action and double standards existing in the Security Council prevent it from performing its duties and assuming its responsibilities toward preserving international peace and security as required," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

However, only hours after Saudi Arabia was elected to the UN body, the country's permanent representative to the UN, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, told the Anadolu Agency in a quite festive mood that his country was willing to work hard to earn its membership at the Security Council.

According to UN sources, Saudi Arabia’s notification in the form of a diplomatic mail had apparently been delivered at least at some diplomatic address in New York.

It is not yet clear whether the council will move on without the Saudis on board. 

The council may convene with 14 members present or the UN General Assembly may call for a fresh round of vote and ask the nations from the Asia-Pacific group -- which includes countries from the Middle East -- to nominate a new member to replace Saudi Arabia.

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