Ammon News - AMMONNEWS -The UN General Assembly on Friday endorsed Jordan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2014-15 term.

A total of 178 out of 193 members of the UN General Assembly voted in favour of Jordan.

Jordan needed a two-third majority to win the seat.

Ahead of the vote, participants stood for one minute to pay respect to South African iconic leader, Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Thursday.

According to the Kingdom’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, HH Prince Zeid Raad, Jordan will in January preside over the UNSC.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh headed a delegation to New York to attend the General Assembly balloting too.

In October, the assembly elected Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia for five non-permanent seats for two-year mandates commencing on January 1, 2014. Saudi Arabia declined to accept the seat in protest over the body’s failure to end the Syria war and act on other Middle East issues. Last month, Jordan officially applied to the UN showing its interest of holding this membership.

Jordan has assumed a seat as a non-permanent member at the council twice —1965-1966 and in 1982-1983 — since joining the UN in 1955.

Prince Zeid Raad said Thursday that Jordan has profound experience in international affairs, which it will deploy to serve the cause of peace and stability in case it is elected to fill the non-permanent seat on the UNSC.

Speaking to a media delegation in New York, the ambassador cited the country’s experience as a member of the International Criminal Court and a key contributor to UN-led peacekeeping missions around the world.

He added that regarding files in which the Kingdom has not enough experience, Jordanian experts will be ready to conduct the necessary studies to help the country formulate a sound stand on the issue on the table.