Kuwait "not interested" in UN seat, backs Jordan's bid

Kuwait will back Jordan taking up a seat at the UN Security Council that Saudi Arabia declined over the international body’s inaction in Syria, a top Foreign Ministry official said.

Khaled al-Jarallah, the ministry’s undersecretary, confirmed that Jordan had been proposed as an alternative to Saudi Arabia, but said he could not yet assert definitively whether it would receive full Arab backing.

“From our side, we support this,” he said.

Arab foreign ministers met ahead of a summit of Arab and African nations in Kuwait this weekend, fueling speculation that they sought a unified stance on backing another Arab state to take over the vacant seat.

Earlier this month, Jordan’s information minister said the kingdom hoped to assume the Saudi seat, saying it was in consultation with Gulf states and the US, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Jarallah’s comments confirmed that Kuwait itself was not interested.

The UN General Assembly voted to give Riyadh the seat back in October, but the kingdom declined, citing failure to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, lack of progress over eliminating weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East, and inaction in Syria, where the oil monarchy opposes President Bashar Assad’s regime.