United Nations: Pakistan, along with Angola, Germany, Spain and Chile on January 1 joined the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent member for a two- year term ending December 31, 2004.

The Council has 15 members including five permanent and 10 non-permanent, five of whom retire each year. The non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly on regional basis and generally the regional groups endorse the candidates after consultations within the group.

The composition of the new Council is the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China (permanent members with veto power), Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico, Syria (due to retire on December 31, 2003), Angola, Chile, Germany, Pakistan and Spain.

"We intend to activate all avenues to seek peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue," Islamabad's UN Ambassador Munir Akram told Pakistani reporters on the eve of joining the Council.

He claimed that Pakistan is taking "principled" position that all UNSC resolutions should be "faithfully implemented".

The presidency of the Council is rotated among members every month in alphabetical order.

France holds the presidency for January and Pakistan would hold the position in May.

PTI