Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday announced the reappointment of a former Egyptian diplomat as general secretary of the Cairo-based Arab League, Egypt’s state news agency reported.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a former ambassador to the United Nations and the last foreign minister in Egypt under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, won support from a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, the MENA report said.
In January, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi announced that Cairo would nominate Aboul Gheit for a second, five-year term as leader of the 22-member bloc.
He was the only nominee for the post, as it is a long – standing protocol that Egypt as a guest of the Arab League will traditionally nominate the leader of the league. He was first appointed in 2016 as general secretary of the Arab League.
It was the only time a non-Egyptian was appointed in 1979, after Egypt’s membership was suspended following its peace treaty with Israel. Membership was renewed in 1989, with the Arab League headquarters returning to Cairo and a new Egyptian general secretary appointed in 1990.
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Ahmed Aboul Gheit, left, at a meeting of the Arab League at their headquarters in Cairo, 3 March 2021
(Photo: EPA)
Aboul Gheit, 78, is known to have been a diplomatic representative with strong envy for political Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
He has been vocal against Turkey and Iran, two highly influential regional powers in the Arab world.
He has also strongly opposed the 2011 uprising that invaded the region and removed four long-standing independent rulers but instigated three civil wars.