Azerbaijan was ahead all along after the other candidates for the Eastern European were voted off, but a total of 16 rounds of voting at the UN General Assembly that started on Friday failed to produce a clear winner.

After the 16th round, in which Slovenia got 77 votes and Azerbaijan 116, again short of the requisite two-thirds majority, Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar addressed the General Assembly saying that Slovenia was withdrawing.

He said Slovenia did not approve of the way Azerbaijan ran its campaign, but "the result speaks for itself and the support of this body is obvious".

"I believe we are a good candidate...Our campaign has always been for Slovenia and the values that we represent. We never ran the campaign against another candidate," he said.

Representatives of Azerbaijan have apparently been suggesting that Slovenia's foreign policy may change with the new government.

They also spread among the UN members the criticism voiced by the opposition Democrats (SDS) regarding Zbogar's attendance at the recent summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Minister Zbogar also suggested on Friday that the vote was a "battle between two worlds in the UN".

Muslim countries appeared to be supporting Azerbaijan in preparation for a potential vote on UN member status for Palestine.

Slovenia is one of the EU members which have still not recognised a Palestinian state.

Moreover, Azerbaijan enjoyed strong backing from Russia while Slovenia had the support of the US.

As a matter of formality, the General Assembly carried out the 17th round of voting after Slovenia withdrew its bid. Azerbaijan got 155 votes, Slovenia 13 and 24 countries abstained.