 "Malaysia assumes rotating presidency of UN Security Council")
Malaysia has assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of August.
Ambassador Dato' Ramlan Ibrahim, the permanent representative of Malaysia to the UN, on Monday took over the rotating council presidency from Koro Bessho, the permanent representative of Japan to the UN, who held the council presidency for July, Xinhua news agency reported.
Among the priorities of the Security Council for the month of August, there will be discussions on Syria regarding the political and humanitarian situations on the ground as well as issues related to chemical weapons, Ibrahim told reporters here.
Also in this month, the council will hold its second straw poll on candidates vying for the next UN chief on Friday.
Council members are expected to modify the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan due to a renewed fighting in the country's capital of Juba, according to Ibrahim.
Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has the primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security in the world at large. It also bears the responsibility to work on the mandate of UN peacekeeping operations.
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The Council is composed of five permanent members: China, the US, Britain, France, and the Russia and10 non-permanent members that are elected in groups of five, with a tenure of two years on the council.
The presidency of the council rotates among its 15 member states based on the English-language alphabetical order of the countries' names on a monthly basis.