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The Arab Group at the United Nations appealed to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to reconsider its unprecedented refusal to sit as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council.
Riyadh stunned the international community on Friday in announcing that it was rejecting the two-year rotating seat on the Security Council it had campaigned for and was elected to in a UN General Assembly election on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia leaders should "maintain their membership in the Security Council and continue their brave role in defending our issues specifically at the rostrum of the Security Council," the Arab Group said in a statement.
The Arab envoys expressed "understanding and respect for the position of the brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," paying respect to Riyadh for representing "the Arab and Islamic world at this important and historical stage, specifically for the Middle East region," according to the brief statement.
It was only on Friday that Saudi foreign ministry announced it was "refraining from taking membership of the UN Security Council until it has reformed so it can effectively and practically perform its duties and discharge its responsibilities in maintaining international security and peace."
The announcement even caught off guard the Saudi Arabian Mission to the United Nations. Friday night it was still carrying on its website a message posted on Thursday celebrating its first- ever election to the 15-member council for 2014-2015.
"This membership defines the absolute commitment of Saudi Arabia towards peace in the world and security in its land," said the posting.
Saudi Ambassador to the United Nations Abdallah Al-Mouallimi was quoted as saying, "It is a defining moment in the Kingdom's history. As one of the first founding members of the United Nations, our election is much to rejoice over. We welcome the positive shift as well as challenges of being part of the Security Council body."
However, UN officials said they had not received official notice of the publicly announced rejection and refused any official reaction until doing so.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did not receive an official notice of the Saudi decision, said his spokesman Martin Nesirky on Friday.
President of the General Assembly (PGA), John William Ashe, also had not received any word, said his spokeswoman, Afaf Konja. "No meetings have taken place between any representatives of Saudi Arabia and the PGA. No formal language has been sent to the PGA on the step taken by Saudi Arabia."
"This is a sovereign decision made by Saudi Arabia," she said. "The president would refer any questions on that decision to the member state. It is an unprecedented step, so next steps are yet to be determined."
The announcement sent reporters and officials scurrying to the history books to determine if any other nation had rejected a council seat after being elected. There was no precedent. The Soviet Union boycotted the council for a while during 1950 but did not give up its seat.
However, it is believed that should Saudi Arabia stick to its course, the General Assembly would have to hold another election since it was won by an overwhelming majority of the UN's 193 members.
While the Saudi rejection seemed to catch everyone flat-footed, Riyadh may have telegraphed the punch when Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal canceled his speech during the annual General Debate in the UN General Assembly a few weeks ago.
The Saudi rejection was seen by many diplomats and observers as a sign of Riyadh's dissatisfaction with the divided council's inability to take action against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. With a civil war raging the country for 30 months, more than 100,000 people have been reportedly killed and more than 6 million people displaced, 2 million of them having fled to neighboring countries.
Other possible considerations include frustration with the failure to reach a settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and with the West's move to start talks with Iran's new president.
Riyadh and Tehran are seen as leaders of two opposing factions vying for primacy in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia backing opposition forces in Syria while Iran supporting the al-Assad government.
Earlier this week, the world powers and Iran held two days of intensive talks in Genevaon its nuclear program and agreed to continue their negotiations on Nov. 7-8.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke on the telephone with Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, the first contact between U.S. and Iranian heads of government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
