New York, UN — At the expense of Sudan, the UN General Assembly Tuesday elected Mauritius as one of three African representatives in the 15-member UN Security Council for the next two years, effective January.

The election, which had to go through four rounds of voting to get a clear winner, saw a display of the influence of the US, which purposely backed Mauritius to deny Sudan, Africa's candidate, a seat in the council.

Relations between the US and Sudan have been strained, with Washington accusing Khartoum of backing terrorist groups.

In the final ballot, Mauritius got 113 votes as against 55 votes for Sudan.

The first round of voting produced 95 votes for Mauritius and 69 votes for Sudan. By its election, Mauritius will begin a two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in January 2001.

The Indian Ocean island nation of less than a million people takes over from Namibia, whose term expires at the end of the year. The tenure of the two other African representatives, Mali and Tunisia, will expire at the end of 2001.

Other results of the elections conducted Tuesday in New York showed Singapore (Asia), Colombia (Latin America and the Caribbean), Ireland and Norway (Western Europe) emerging victorious for non-permanent seats in the council.

While Ireland, Colombia and Singapore emerged victorious in the first round of voting, Norway and Italy had to go through four rounds of voting just like Sudan and Mauritius.

All the elected member states will assume their positions in January.