NEW YORK, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and Croatia have been elected non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council for 2008-2009, the UN General Assembly announced on Tuesday.
All five countries gained more than the required two-thirds of the 192 General Assembly members' votes. Burkina Faso, Vietnam and Libya received majorities in the first round, and Costa Rica and Croatia were backed in a third round of voting.
The Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic, who were competing with Costa Rica and Croatia respectively for non-permanent seats, pulled out following the second voting round after their rivals came close to the required majority.
The new non-permanent members will replace Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia in the UN Security Council, when the countries' mandates expire on December 31.