S Arabia rejects UN Security Council seat in stunning turnaround

Saudi Arabia stunned the UN and a number of its own diplomats yesterday, with its rejection of a highly coveted non-permanent seat on the Security Council, in an angry response over what the kingdom saw as a weak and conciliatory western stance toward Syria and Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rivals.

The Saudi decision, which could not have come without the approval of King Abdullah, comes a day after it had won a Security Council seat for the first time.

The Saudi foreign ministry released a statement rejecting the seat just hours following the kingdom's diplomats at the UN and in Riyadh, had managed to bag after two years of intense efforts in New York.

According to one Saudi diplomat, the decision came following weeks of high-level debate about the usefulness of a seat on the Security Council, where Russia and China had repeatedly drawn Saudi anger as they blocked all attempts to pressure Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, The New York Times reported.

King Abdullah had voiced increasing frustration over the escalating violence in Syria, a fellow Muslim-majority nation where one of his wives was born.

Saudi Arabia is staunchly supporting the rebels' bid to unseat Bashar Assad's government.

He was reportedly deeply disappointed when president Obama decided against airstrikes on Syria's military in September in favour of a Russian-proposed agreement to secure Syria's chemical weapons.

This comes as the second protest from the country. The Saudi foreign minister, had earlier pulled out of giving a speech at the UN General Assembly, expressing similar frustration.

Though the gesture was dramatic, whether it would make immediate reform of the Security Council more likely, as demanded by the Saudis is debatable. 

In addition to accusing the council of "double-standards" and demanding reform, the Saudi foreign ministry pointed to its failure "to find a solution to the Palestinian cause for 65 years", which had led to "numerous wars that have threatened world peace".

The UN also came in for criticism over its "failure" to rid the Middle East region of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.

It also accused the UN of letting the Syrian government "kill its own people with chemical weapons... without confronting it or imposing any deterrent sanctions".