UNITED NATIONS: Five new non-permanent members of UN Security Council, Jordan, Lithuania, Chile, Chad and Nigeria have joined the most powerful organ of the world body.

They replaced Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco and Togo, whose two-year term expired on December 31. The new members, elected by the General Assembly in October, will join the five existing non-permanent members — Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea and Rawanda — who still have a year on their terms.

The seats for the 10 non-permanent members are filled from regional groupings for two-year terms. Five are replaced every year.

Jordan, which has become a non-permanent member of the council, also assumed its presidency for the month of January; according to the system of alphabetical rotation. Jordan was elected in December as a replacement for Saudi Arabia after Riyadh turned down the seat in protest against the council’s failure to end the Syrian war and act on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other Middle East issues.