Kuwait denies taking Saudi Arabia's seat at UN Security Council

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Suleiman Al-Jarallah denied on Thursday the reports suggesting that his country would take the UN Security Council seat which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has rejected.

Al-Jarallah stressed that Kuwait is participating in the efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to reconsider taking the seat. “Kuwait, as we have stated on several occasions, is part of the efforts to convince Saudi Arabia to reverse its decision,” Al-Jarallah said, as quoted by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

He described how Kuwait recognises that Saudi Arabia plays a constructive role and has significant political weight, which would make it able, if it assumes the Security Council seat, to influence the course of the council’s process in addressing many issues.

Earlier on Thursday, CNN had quoted a Kuwaiti government official as saying that the State of Kuwait would occupy the Security Council seat that Saudi Arabia won but declined to take.

CNN also quoted a Bahraini diplomat who said on condition of anonymity that Saudi Arabia could very well have agreed to give Kuwait its allocated seat, because customarily (not legally) the seat must be occupied by one of the Arab states in Asia.