New Arab League Chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit (Photo: Ahram)
The Arab League has approved on Thursday evening the appointment of Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egypt's former foreign minister, to become the eighth head of the organisation
Aboul-Gheit, 73, will succeed outgoing secretary-general Nabil El-Araby, another former Egypt foreign minister, who recently announced he would not seek a second five-year term.
Aboul-Gheit served as Egypt's foreign minister between 2004-2011.
The career diplomat was the permanent representative of Egypt at the UN headquarters in New York 1999-2004.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit was born in cairo in 1942.
He graduated from Ain Shams University in 1964 with a degree in business.
He rose through the ranks of the ministry over the next two decades and was appointed as the chief of staff of former Egyptian foreign minister Amr Moussa in the early 1990's.
He was appointed Egypt's ambassador to Italy in 1992.
During his service under Moussa and then in New York, Aboul-Gheit showed excellent administrative skills and considerable diplomatic poise, according to fellow diplomats.
Aboul-Gheit did not assume any public position following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The Arab League was formed in Cairo by six Arab countries in 1945.
Today, the league comprises 22 countries.
Six of the seven previous secretary-generals have been Egyptian.
The league maintains its main headquarters in Cairo.
Aboul-Gheit will assume his responsibilities as secretary-general in an official manner starting July 2016.
More to follow
Short link: