Bahrain supports Saudi Arabia's rejection of UN Security Council seat

Bahrain's government officials and political forces on Saturday welcomed Saudi Arabia's decision to reject a newly-won seat in the UN Security Council. Bahrain's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ghanim Al Buainain said it is a strong message that exposes UN's double standards. Parliament Chairman Khalifa Al-Dhahrani also hailed the Saudi decision as "historic." Saudi's decision of not accepting the seat was a message to the West that double standards by the Council is unacceptable to the Gulf and Arab states, said Bahrain's largest pro-government political group, National Unity Assembly(NUA), and newly formed Al Fateh Youth Coalition(FYC). "This is a clear message to the West that Saudi rejects the Council as it did not perform its duties in supporting the Palestinian cause and putting an end (to the crisis) in Syria," said NUA chief Shaikh Abdullateef Al Mahmood. The FYC said in a statement that "The Saudi's courageous position also puts into the spotlight the inability of the international community in dealing with the Syrian situation and putting an end to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad," calling on all Arab and Islamic countries to fully support Saudi Arabia. On Thursday, the UN General Assembly elected Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to a two-year term in the Security Council. One day later, Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the kingdom won't accept the rotating seat until the Council is effectively reformed.