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(Recast) Profile: Egypt's ex-FM appointed as new Arab League chief

Xinhua, March 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Abul-Gheit was appointed on Thursday as the new head of the Arab League (AL).

In a meeting in Cairo, the Arab League council unanimously agreed to appoint Abul-Gheit as the new chief to replace outgoing secretary-general Nabil Al-Araby, 80, who announced recently he will not seek a second five-year term.

Egypt's nomination of Abul-Gheit was initially rejected by Qatar and Sudan, until a four-member committee of the foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was formed earlier on Thursday to discuss the objections.

Abul-Gheit, 73, served as Egypt's foreign minister from 2004 to 2011, under former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted by mass protests in February 2011.

Since Mubarak's fall, Abul Gheit stayed away from politics. He published his memoirs in 2013.

Born in Cairo in 1942, the veteran diplomat was graduated from Ain Shams University in 1964 with a degree in business. He later joined Egypt's diplomatic corps in 1965.

Abul-Gheit participated in the Camp David peace talks between Egypt and Israel under President Anwar Sadat rule in 1979.

He was in the early 1990s appointed as the chief of staff of former Egyptian foreign minister Amro Moussa.

After that, Abul Gheit also held several diplomatic posts in Rome, Moscow and New York.

Then in 1999 he was appointed as Egypt's permanent representative to the UN, and was recalled in 2004 to head the foreign ministry under Mubarak.

Based in Cairo since 1945, the Arab League was founded by six Arab countries. Today, the pan-Arab organization has 22 members.

AL's central goal is to promote inter-Arab relations and coordinate their positions on regional and international issues.

Traditionally, AL's secretary general can serve two straight terms. Six of seven previous AL chiefs were Egyptians. Endit