The US was elected yesterday to the UN Human Rights Council, after shunning the body since it was created three years ago, in a step along Barack Obama's path of global re-engagement.

US membership was unopposed after New Zealand stepped aside to give it a clear run at one of three seats on the 47-member council reserved for western states in a vote at the UN General Assembly.

The council is the successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights, which was attacked as a forum for anti-western and anti-Israeli attacks, often from states whose own rights records were questionable. The US and Israel voted against a 2006 resolution that set up the new body. Washington argued that there were not enough safeguards to prevent the election of human rights abusers.