| Dr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit | |
|---|---|
| Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the 41st Munich Security Conference 2005 | |
| Foreign Minister of Egypt | |
| In office 11 July 2004 – 6 March 2011 |
|
| President | Hosni Mubarak Mohamed Tantawi (Acting) |
| Prime Minister | Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Shafik |
| Preceded by | Ahmed Maher |
| Succeeded by | Nabil Elaraby |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 12, 1942 Cairo, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit (Arabic: أحمد أبو الغيط, also: Abu al-Ghayt, Abu El Gheyt, etc.) (born June 12, 1942) is an Egyptian diplomat who was the Foreign Minister of Egypt from 11 July 2004 to 6 March 2011, since the government of Ahmed Nazif took office. Aboul-Gheit previously served as Egypt's ambassador to the United Nations.[1] In December 2005 he began mediating the Chad-Sudan conflict. He was succeeded by ICJ judge Nabil Elaraby in March 2011, following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. [2]
Born at Heliopolis in Cairo, Aboul Gheit was originally from the city of Port Saeed. He started his career as Third Secretary in the Embassy of Cyprus and moved into being the First Secretary for Egypt's Ambassador in the United Nations, Political Consultant in the Egyptian Embassy in Russia in 1984, and moved into being the Ambassador of Egypt in Rome, Macedonia and San Marino, and by 1999 he was the head of Egypt's permanent delegation in the United Nations.
Regarding the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, he said "this was a very unfortunate statement and it is a statement that shows that there is a lack of understanding of real Islam. And because of this we are hopeful that such statements and such positions would not be stated in order to not allow tension and distrust and recriminations to brew between the Muslim as well as the west." [3]
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit opened on December 26, 2010, the first Egyptian consulate outside Baghdad in the northern city of Irbil in a one-day visit to Iraq, where he also held talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.[4]
In a statement to the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq, Abul-Gheit pointed out that Egypt is the second biggest African economic power with the most powerful army in Africa and is also the most effective diplomatic player in the continent. Consequently, no African country could isolate Egypt from the continent.[5]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ahmad Maher |
Foreign Minister of Egypt 2004-2011 |
Succeeded by Nabil Elaraby |
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