The beginning of 2008 will in-store a first – the first time Libya serves as the UN Security Council's temporary president.
Libya will act as president on behalf of the African states – the UN's African Bloc – and will head the Security Council for one month.
The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members: Five regular members – the US, the UK, France, China and Russia; and 10 rotating members out of the UN's nations.
Each of the Council's members act as its president for one month out of the year – Libya then, stands to act as the Security Council's president again, in 15 months.
The UN decides on which state will head the Council according the French spelling. Out of the 10 rotating members in the Council, five new states are introduced to it every year, each for a duration of two years.
Libya is not the first Arab state to head the UN Security Council: The Council's 10 rotating nations always include an Arab state, representing either the Asian bloc or the African one.
Libya will take Qatar's place in the Council – Qatar itself has taken its turn as the Council's president.
"We expect Libya, both as a member of this important council, and especially when acting as its president, to follow the Security Council's guidelines," Roee Leshno-Yaar, deputy director-general of international affairs in the Foreign Ministry told Ynet.
"We expect it to act fairly and without prejudice to all the nations in the UN, including Israel,"
he added.
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