Mubarak-era minister looks set to be new Arab League head

With much of region aflame, Egyptian diplomat Gheit, known for pragmatic approach to Islamic fundamentalists, is sole contender

By AP 10 March 2016, 6:22 pm

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This file photo taken on February 3, 2013 shows former Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, expected to be elected as the new secretary general of the Arab League, answering journalists' questions during an interview at his home in Cairo. (AFP/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA)

CAIRO — The Arab League’s 22 members were voting Thursday to elect the organization’s new chief, with a veteran Egyptian diplomat the only contender for the post.

Egypt’s Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a former ambassador to the United Nations and veteran diplomat under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, is the only nominee for the post and is widely expected to win approval from the league members. It is a long held protocol that Egypt as host of the Arab League traditionally nominates the league chief. The league has been almost exclusively headed by Egyptians.

The vote comes at a critical time for the region. Syria is marking the fifth anniversary of the start of its devastating civil war, regional proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran are on full display, and the battle against the Islamic State is raging in several Arab countries.

Divisions have weakened the Arab League since the 2011 uprisings that toppled three longtime autocratic rulers but also sparked three civil wars.

Then-foreign ministers Tzipi Livni, of Israel, Abdul-Ilah Khatib, of Jordan, and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, of Egypt, meet in Jerusalem, July 25 2007. (photo credit: Orel Cohen/Flash90) — Then-foreign ministers Tzipi Livni, of Israel, Abdul-Ilah Khatib, of Jordan, and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, of Egypt, meet in Jerusalem, July 25, 2007. (photo credit: Orel Cohen/Flash90)

But despite its waning influence, a strong leadership might help shore up Saudi-led Sunni front against Iran at a time of ongoing military involvement by the Saudis and other Gulf Arab countries in Yemen and Syria.

Past league chairmen have included pan-Arab nationalists such as Amr Moussa and the outgoing head, Nabil Elaraby. Aboul Gheit appears to mark a shift as he is known to be a pragmatic diplomat with strong enmity for political Islam factions like the Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organization of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Aboul Gheit was the last foreign minister under Mubarak, who was toppled in Egypt’s 2011 uprising. He was replaced after the president’s removal and kept a low profile while many Mubarak loyalists were sent to courts for trials in corruption-linked cases.