Egypt assumes rotating presidency of UN Security Council for May

Egypt on Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for May.

Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, permanent representative of Egypt to the UN, took over the rotating council presidency from his Chinese counterpart Liu Jieyi, who held the council presidency for April.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security in the world at large.

The Council is composed of five permanent members -- China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Federation -- and 10 non-permanent members that are elected in groups of five, with a tenure of two years on the council.

The presidency of the council rotates among its 15 member states based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names on a monthly basis.

Source: XINHUA