Bahrain has strongly backed its inclusion among an exclusive group of countries eligible for election to the UN Human Rights Council.

It hit back at those who described as 'unwarranted and unfounded' its candidature.

Freedom House and UN Watch on Tuesday said that Bahrain, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Gabon and Zambia, had failed to protect human rights and should be disqualified.

However, a top Bahraini official said the country would likely be elected in view of its favourable human rights record, which has been praised by the UN.

'We have had a very good Universal Periodic Review recently and, in light of that, we have a bright chance,' said Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla, Bahrain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Geneva.

The 192-member UN General Assembly will vote in the election being held May 21 in New York.-TradeArabia News Service