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Harare — Zimbabwe has been elected to the most powerful African Union organ, the Peace and Security Council for the next three years at the ongoing AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The election was a major diplomatic victory for Zimbabwe in light of attempts by some Western nations to portray the country as a hotspot warranting inclusion on the UN Security Council agenda.

A council of AU foreign ministers, also known as Executive Council, conducted the elections at 4am, East African time on Saturday.

The election took place within the framework of the 14th Ordinary Session of the AU Summit of Heads of State and Government running from January 31 to February 2 2010.

President Mugabe, who is Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, and his delegation comprising Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa among others are attending the summit.

The Security Council consists of 15 member countries elected for two to three-year terms on a regional basis, three representatives from Central Africa, three from East Africa, two from North Africa, three from Southern Africa and four from West Africa.

Other countries elected into the Security Council for three-year terms include Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Libya and Nigeria.

The new Peace and Security Council took over from the outgoing member-states that include Burundi and Chad (Central Africa), Rwanda and Uganda (Eastern Africa), Tunisia (Northern Africa), Swaziland and Zambia (Southern Africa) as well as Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali (Western Africa).

Director of the Legal Council at the AU Mr Ben Kioko said the Executive Council also elected 10 member states from the five regional zones of Africa for a two-year period.

"Burundi, Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, Mauritania, Namibia, South Africa, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire and Mali have been elected for two years," said Mr Kioko.

"The PSC protocol gives the specific roles to the regions to elect their representatives. It sets out a certain criteria to be used in the elections and submits the names for those to be elected for the three-year term. This is the process that was followed," Mr Kioko said.

He said that the candidates were elected in strict adherence to the current laws governing the election of new members to serve in the council. The council members are tasked to discuss and pass various resolutions regarding peace and security matters, including imposing sanctions against member-states where there is an unconstitutional change of government.

The Peace and Security Council was established five years ago. The 14th Ordinary Session of the AU Summit, which was officially opened yesterday by Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi, is being held under the theme: "Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development".

United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon also graced the official opening of the summit yesterday.