UN Security Council: Libya In; Czech Republic Out

From The Times of India:

Libya joins UN Security Council after leaving US terrorist list

UNITED NATIONS: Libya won a seat on the UN Security Council, just over a year after the US removed the north African nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and without any opposition from US President George W Bush’s administration.

The closest race for a council seat was between Croatia and the Czech Republic.

Some diplomats said privately that the Czech Republic lost because of President Vaclav Klaus’ skeptical comments about global warming, which is a key issue for many UN members, especially small island states. In a statement last week, Klaus said he was “surprised” that former US Vice President Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize “because a link between his activities and the global peace is unclear and blurred.”