Egypt was elected to the African Union's Peace and Security Council on Thursday for a three-year term.

 

The council's elections took place Thursday morning on the sidelines the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

 

The council is comprised of 15 members, five of whom are elected for a three-year term and the remaining 10 for a two-year term.

 

Egypt won one of the two seats allocated for North Africa and is expected to take up office on 1 April.

 

The 26th AU Summit will take place on 30 to 31 January. 

 

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi travelled Friday to the Ethiopian capital to attend the summit.

 

The African Union froze Egypt's membership of the body following the ouster of former president Mohamed Mursi on 3 July 2013.  

 

The suspension was lifted almost a year later in June 2014 "considering the progress made in the formal restoration of constitutional order."

 

The decision came about two weeks after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi won a sweeping victory in the presidential elections, garnering more than 96 percent of the votes.

 

Last year Egypt secured a non-permanent member seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2016-2017, after running unopposed.

 

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.