Dhaka, June 2 -- Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman has been elected president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The election was held on Tuesday night at the UN Headquarters in New York.

His rival in the vote was Andreas S Kakouris, special envoy of the foreign minister of Cyprus.

The United Nations General Assembly follows a regional rotation system, under which the Asia-Pacific region was allocated the presidency for the next session.

Representatives from 193 member states voted through a secret ballot.

In addition to the two candidates, delegates were also allowed to cast write-in votes.

A total of 190 votes were cast in the election.

Khalilur secured 99 votes, while Kakouris received 91 votes...