Former Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy nominated to head Arab League

His nomination was announced by the ministry’s permanent delegation at the Arab League in a letter, obtained by Mada Masr, to the league’s general secretariat on Wednesday.

It comes at a critical time for the region, with Israeli hostilities against Gaza and Lebanon ongoing, and the hovering threat of United States military action against Iran.

Speculation around his nomination to the position has been ongoing for months. 

Fahmy’s candidacy has been anticipated in the press since the summer of last year, with a number of domestic and regional news outlets quoting unnamed sources suggesting the government’s recommendation of him for the position, including diplomatic sources saying in September that the state had been mobilizing support for the former foreign minister as candidate — including through meetings with permanent representatives at the league along with other Arab officials. 

To secure the position of secretary-general, Fahmy will need votes from two-thirds of the league’s member states, as per the league’s charter — which also stipulates for the elected official to hold the rank of ambassador and serve a five-year term, renewable only once. 

Fahmy has more than 30 years of diplomatic experience, including on arms control, disarmament and regional security. 

He served as Egypt’s ambassador to Japan between 1997 and 1999 before serving as ambassador to the US from 1999 to 2008.

During his time in the US, Fahmy chaired the United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters in 2011 and was the Vice-Chair of the Security and Disarmament Committee during the 44th session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Fahmy’s candidacy to head the Arab League comes amid increased pressure by the US and Israeli officials for Hamas’s full disarmament — a path which Egypt insists must happen through a negotiated process that includes Hamas. 

Earlier this week, the inaugural meeting of the US-led Board of Peace produced a 60-day ultimatum for Hamas to surrender its weapons ahead of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.

Fahmy later served as Egypt’s foreign minister from July 2013 to June the following year. 

He is also the founding dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in Cairo.

Currently, former Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit holds the position of Secretary-General for the Arab League. Having held the post since 2016, his second term is set to end in June.

The post has been traditionally held by the Egyptian foreign minister since the league’s inauguration. 

If elected, Fahmy will be the latest in a series of Egyptian diplomats who assumed the position, except for in the late 1970’s when the league’s headquarters was temporarily moved to Tunisia, and a Tunisian diplomat held the position amid the repercussions of the Camp David Accords on Egypt, when the latter was suspended from the league in 1979.