Deputy secretary general of the Arab League Ahmed Bin Helli announced Monday that former Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit is the only candidate who has been nominated for the position of secretary general.
The Arab League will hold an urgent meeting on 10 March to choose a new Secretary General to succeed the current secretary general Nabil Al-Araby, who decided to forego a second term in office.
Al-Araby, whose current term ends on 1 July, announced Sunday that he will not run for another term in office, as reported by Egyptian state news agency MENA. Al-Araby was appointed Arab League secretary general in March 2011.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit was born in 1942 and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1965. He was appointed as the permanent Egyptian ambassador to the UN in 1999. In 2004, he was appointed to the position of Egyptian foreign minister.
In an earlier statement, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid stated that the Egyptian nominee is widely supported by Arab countries.
