On Sunday, Arab foreign ministers unanimously appointed former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy as the new Secretary-General of the Arab League.
Fahmy’s appointment will receive formal endorsement from Arab leaders at the upcoming summit in Saudi Arabia, after which he will begin his five-year tenure in July.
Having served as Egypt’s top diplomat from June 2013 to July 2014, Fahmy will become the eighth Egyptian to lead the Cairo-based regional organization, taking over from Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Throughout its history, the 22-member bloc has had only one non-Egyptian Secretary-General Tunisian Chedli Klibi in the 1980s when Egypt was temporarily suspended for signing a peace agreement with Israel, which went against the regional consensus at the time.
In a statement, 75-year-old Fahmy described the role as a “great responsibility,” highlighting “blatant violations of international law by aggressors who have attacked our nations and security, and by those whose prolonged occupation of our lands has prevented our brothers from exercising their legitimate rights.”
Although he did not explicitly mention any countries, his remarks reflected similar positions previously expressed regarding both Iran and Israel.
Founded in 1945, the Arab League serves primarily as a political forum for Arab nations to coordinate, deliberate, and communicate points of consensus on regional issues.