Arab League foreign ministers arrived in Cairo Thursday to attend an urgent meeting called to vote to elect the new Arab League secretary general.
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.
Those gathered at the meeting will discuss preparations ahead of the Arab Summit in Mauritania and will review regional challenges and potential collaboration between Arab countries at political, economic and social levels.
Several Arab countries—including Libya, Kuwait, Algeria, and Bahrain—have welcomed Aboul-Gheit’s nomination.
According to Bahraini state media, foreign minister Khaled Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa endorsed Aboul-Gheit for the position. Similarly, the Kuwaiti foreign minister Khaled Al-Jarallah announced his country’s support for the nominee.
Meanwhile, at a bilateral meeting between Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry and his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel in Cairo on Wednesday, Mosahel said Algeria supports Aboul-Gheit, according to statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry.
Arab League secretary general Nabil Al-Araby, whose current term ends on 1 July, announced last 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.
