SAUDI ARABIA has rejected a seat on the UN Security Council, saying the 15-member body is incapable of resolving world conflicts such as the Syrian civil war.

The move came just hours after the kingdom was elected as one of the Council's 10 non-permanent members, with the Saudi foreign ministry saying the council had failed in its duties toward Syria.

This, the ministry said, had enabled Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime to perpetrate the killings of its people, including with chemical weapons, without facing any punishment.

The kingdom, which has backed the Syrian rebels in their struggle to topple Mr Assad, has criticised the international community for failing to halt the civil war in Syria, now in its third year.

The kingdom easily won the seat in a vote at the General Assembly in New York, facing no opposition because there were no contested races for the first time in several years.

The 15-member Council includes five permanent members with veto power -the US, Russia, China, ­Britain and France.