Aref Ali Nayed

Ambassador Dr Aref Ali Nayed
Libya Ambassador to United Arab Emirates
President Mohamed Magarief

Dr Aref Ali Nayed (Arabic: عارف علي النايض) (born in 1962) is a Libyan Islamic scholar and the Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.[1] He had resigned upon the holding of elections in 2012 (a condition he had insisted upon on assuming the position), however, his resignation was subsequently rejected by the Libyan government. He is also the founder and director of Kalam Research & Media (KRM), based in Tripoli, Libya and Dubai.[2] Until the outbreak of the revolution in Libya, he lectured on Islamic theology, logic, and spirituality at the restored Uthman Pasha Madrassa in Tripoli, and supervised graduate students at the Islamic Call College there.

Before the liberation of Tripoli in 2011, he was appointed by the National Transitional Council as the coordinator of the Tripoli Taskforce. When Tripoli was liberated in late August 2011, the remit was broadened and he was made the lead coordinator of the Libya Stabilization Team. Earlier in the year, he was the coordinator for the Support Offices of the Executive Team of the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya. He is also the secretary of the Network of Free Ulema – Libya.

Early life

Aref Ali Nayed was born in Benghazi and raised in Tripoli. He later went to Canada, to study at the insistence of his father, and received his BSc in Engineering from the University of Guelph in Ontario. At Guelph, he became deeply interested in philosophy and science and stayed on to complete an MA in the Philosophy of Science, and then a PhD in Hermeneutics. His doctoral work on operational hermeneutics was published in 2011 by Kalam Research and Media. Pursuing further his academic interests he studied Islamic philosophy and theology at the University of Toronto and then specialised in Christian theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

He went on to take up several academic positions and was Professor at the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in Rome, and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia.

In the 1990s, he returned to Libya and headed an IT Company with offices in Tripoli, Benghazi, Sharjah and Hyderabad.

As the former Libyan government began lifting restrictions on religious teaching, Aref Nayed helped restore and reopen the famous Othman Pasha Madrasa in the Old Madina of Tripoli. This madrasa was a renowned centre for theological and spiritual instructions and many leading Tripolitanian scholars of the past were associated with it. Aref Nayed taught theology, logic and spirituality there, until February 2011, when the political unrest in Tripoli escalated and the former regime's forces committed widespread violence, killings and summary arrests of those supporting the Free Libyan movement.

Aref Nayed is also Senior Advisor to the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme; Fellow of the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute in Jordan; and was appointed to the Board of Advisors of the prestigious Templeton Foundation.

Activities during the 2011 Libyan civil war

Advocacy early in the civil war

Nayed took part in demonstrations in Tripoli on 19 February and witnessed first-hand the brutality of the regime against its own people. Together with other Libyan ulema from Tripoli and Western region of Libya, Nayed established the Network of Free Ulema. The network comprised traditional religious scholars and they called for an immediate end to the killings by the regime.[3][4]

On 20 February, Nayed left Tripoli for Istanbul in order to help the campaign against Gaddafi. In Istanbul and Ankara he talked to the Chief Advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Ibrahim Kalin and described the situation in Libya and requested that Turkey help the Free Libya movement and condemn Gaddafi. He also requested that the Turkish government send immediate medical supplies to hospitals in Benghazi through the Turkish ships that were evacuating their nationals. The day after, Nayed gave an interview to BBC Radio 4, in which he decried Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and the Gaddafi government, and called on them to stop attacks on innocent people and on the international community to help the innocent people.[5]

As the situation in Libya escalated, Nayed, along with the Network of Free Ulema, issued a fatwa calling for open rebellion. The statement read:

Two days ago we made an appeal to the Libyan regime and its helpers to stop killing their brothers and sisters. They have demonstrated total arrogant impunity and continued, and even intensified, their bloody crimes against humanity. They have thereby demonstrated total infidelity to the guidance of God and His beloved Prophet (peace be upon him). This renders them undeserving of any obedience or support, and makes rebelling against them by all means possible a divinely ordained duty upon every able Muslim, male or female, to the extent of their capacity. We support our brave brother and colleague Sheikh al-Sadiq al-Ghriani in his recent fatwas, and call for his immediate release un- harmed. We also call for the immediate release of all imprisoned demonstrators, including many of our young students.[6]

On 22 February, the Network of Free Ulema called for urgent medical supplies and for the international community to help the Free Libya cause and condemn Gaddafi.[7] Then on 23 February, the Network of Free Ulema issued an endorsement of the Declaration of the 17 February Revolution stating: “Today, we thank God for giving us the honor of endorsing and fully supporting the Declarations of the Revolution of February 17th, 2011, announced by our brother Dr. Al-Tarhuni and broadcast locally over the past few days, and on Al-Jazeera (Arabic) this morning.”[8]

In the following days, Nayed contacted and briefed a number of key international leaders and institutions in order to galvanize international support for the revolution: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan; Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and World Council of Churches (which led to it issuing a statement on 22 February).

Since the statements issued by the Network of Free Ulema on 19 February, Dr Nayed’s Kalam Research and Media office in Dubai became a centre for media activity supporting the Free Libya efforts. The KRM office, through its massive media network around the world, ensured that all statements of the Network of Free Ulema would be circulated as widely as possible to all media. The office also liaised with international journalists and governments to ensure they had up to date information on the Libyan crisis. The KRM office worked 24 hours daily to maintain media pressure and then very quickly expanded its team of Libyan experts, and with the blessing of the UAE government, and began engaging in diplomatic work with NATO to support the efforts of the Executive Team.

The KRM office also relayed to the media agencies (Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Sky News, and other international networks) video and audio footage from Tripoli and other parts of Libya about the situation there. There footage was received through direct contacts in the capital. On 23 February, Nayed made a second visit to Istanbul to seek medical aid for Libyan hospitals and met with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to update him and to thank him for their efforts. Meanwhile, the situation in Tripoli worsened and due to his exposure to the media, threats to his family members in Tripoli also increased. On 24 February, the KRM media team joined with a team of young Libyans in Dubai to coordinate a strategic media campaign for New Libya. All efforts to place speakers, feature articles, and information packs were increased across all international media. Teams were working from multiple locations in the Middle East and Europe and the US. Then on 26 February the Network of Free Ulema issued a statement calling for more humanitarian help for the Libyan people and calling for arrest warrants to be issued by the International Criminal Court: “Please urgently send into Libya as much medical and humanitarian aid as possible. The Egyptian-Libyan border, Benghazi Port, and Misrata Port are now open, and we urge Libyans inside and outside the country to help in every way they can with logistics and distribution. We very much appreciate the early response from Turkey and from the International Red Cross/Red Crescent in this regard.”[9] The Network of Free Ulema also issued a statement supporting and endorsing the National Transitional Council.[10]

In March the Network of Free Ulema also issued a statement supporting the efforts of Libyan women in the Free Libya movement.[11]

On 15 March, after the constant targeting, killing and harassment of journalists by the Gaddafi government, the Network of Free Ulema issued a new statement:

'The bravery of Libyan and international journalists in reporting on the facts on the ground in the face of violence, obstruction and propaganda by the regime is nothing short of heroic. Without their efforts the outside world would not be able to understand the truly shocking nature of the evil that Gaddafi’s thugs are perpetrating against the Libyan people.'[12]

Working with the NTC

At the beginning of March, Nayed set up the support offices for the Executive Team. The support offices, with its experienced and volunteer and professional team of Libyan staff aimed to provide administrative and expert assistance to the Executive Team. Its teams assisted in the Energy, Diplomacy, Security, and other sectors particularly the offices of Mahmoud Jibril, Ali Issawi, and Ali Tarhouni. At the Dubai Operations Room, the Support Office continued working vigorously on humanitarian needs of the Libyan people and diplomatic efforts and media outreach to support the call for the UN Security Council to impose a No-Fly Zone. Nayed rallied a number of leading government leaders internationally and political and religious personalities over the coming days to put pressure on the UN. Dr Nayed’s team in Dubai assisted the Centre for Islam and Democracy in Washington, D.C. to substantially increase the number of signatories calling for U.S. President Barack Obama to support the No-Fly Zone. As a result a large number of leading academic and politicians in the US supported the petition which was given to the White House.

On 17 March, the UN Security Council passed the No-Fly Zone. On 4 April, two Support Office members from Dubai accompanied Ali Isawi, then the Foreign Secretary of the NTC Executive Team to his meeting in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. The Support Team provided him with media and press and administrative support throughout the visit. At the press conference after the bilaterial meeting, Frattini, on behalf of the Italian Government, officially recognized the NTC as the sole and legitimate representative of the Libyan people.[13][14]

From the beginning of April, Nayed, along with two other assistants, Qatar provided assistance to Jibril. They assisted Jibril with the preparations for the Doha Contact Group Meeting on 11 April, and the EU Foreign Ministers Meeting on 12 April in Luxembourg.

On 12 April, the head of the NTC Executive Team, Mahmoud Jibril was accompanied by Nayed to the EU Foreign Ministers Council in Luxembourg. The meeting was chaired by Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.[15][16]

Nayed was part of the NTC Delegation to the Contact Group meeting in Doha on 13 April. The Contact Group countries agreed to establish a Temporary Financial Mechanism to assist Libya. Doha was the first time that the NTC was able to attend the Contact Group meeting as an entity in and of itself and brief the Foreign Ministers on the current situation and the needs of the Libyan people and to request the international community to maintain the No-Fly Zone.[17] The Support Offices worked closely with Executive Team and the Libya Contact Group representatives on the Temporary Financial Mechanism (TFM). The TFM was then agreed upon by the Contact Group and it became the mechanism through which the Contact Group donors would provide financial assistance. Detailed work on the construction of the framework of the TFM took place at the Support Offices in Dubai. The work was done in close coordination with the Economics and Oil Portfolio of the NTC Executive Team and with Abdullah Shamia, Omar Shakmak and Idris Al-Sharif. A draft was already ready by 18 April and the final version was completed by 28 April. [18]

On 14 April, the Support Office team drafted a letter to ICC Prosecutor Ocampo, which were officially signed by Mustafa Abdul Jalil and also letters for Denmark, the Maldives and Jordan. [19]

The Support Offices also helped draft a Weapons Control Mechanism for the NTC at the request of the Contact Group nations, particularly the UAE and Qatar. The first draft was submitted to Mahmoud Jibril on 20 April and then submitted to the Contact Group.

For three weeks in April the Support Offices under the direction of Nayed provided intense and around the clock help to the Financial, Security, Oil and Telecommunications portfolios of the NTC Executive Team and contributed directly to its initial successes for the Free Libya cause. On the Telecommunications front, the Support Office team members in Doha were working closely with the teams in Benghazi to restore the mobile phone lines with Libyana and were also working closely with Qtel for other telecommunication repair and reconstruction. [20]

Nayed, Muneim Boud and the Support Offices, with the financial assistance from the Qatari authorities, purchased a field hospital with 50 beds for Misrata. Misrata was under intense shelling by the Gaddafi government and there was no working hospital. Nayed liaised with the Qatari authorities to finalise the financing, and Boud travelled to Norway to oversee the order and to learn the installation procedures. The field hospital reached Misrata by the end of April and it was soon operational with the help of Italian medical staff.

Further work was carried out during April on humanitarian, financial, diplomatic, and security sectors, and support teams actively worked in Dubai, Doha, Amman, and Bahrain. On 2–3 May Nayed met with 12 lawyers from five countries at Doha to discuss various issues ahead of the Contact Group meeting in Rome on 5 May.

The 3rd Libya Contact Group Meeting took place in Rome on 5 May and the Temporary Financial Mechanism was fully approved by the Contact Group Members. [21]

Relations between liberated and non-liberated areas of Libya

"Libya Together and Free Conference", Doha, with leaders from the west, centre and south of Libya.

In May Nayed and the Support Office coordinated the arrangements for major conferences in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Benghazi for Western, Central and Southern Libyan representatives, representing a total of 23 local councils. The main title of the three conferences was “Libya, Together and Free: Supporting the National Transitional Council”. The conferences culminated in a visit to Benghazi to join the NTC. This was a major initiative as until then the NTC did not have countrywide representation in its Council. The conferences received worldwide media coverage and anger from the Gaddafi government. Conferences therefore took place in:

Rally in Benghazi with leaders from the west, centre and south of Libya.

Stabilization in Libya

New NTC members meeting diplomats from France, the UK, US and Italy.

On 18 May, the new council members along with Nayed met with the diplomatic representatives of the UK, US, Italy and France to discuss the situation in the newly freed areas of Libya such as the Nafusa Mountains, Misrata, and areas of the South. They also discussed how best to urgently assist those regions with humanitarian and tactical help. Support Offices for the Executive Team were then established at the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi. Together with the offices in Dubai, Doha, Amman, and Bahrain, Nayed was able to tap into a wide network of expertise and assistance across all required sectors.

Members of the Tobu and Touareg tribes at a conference to enlist their help in humanitarian and security sectors.

On 22 May, Nayed was appointed as the Coordinator of the Tripoli Taskforce by Jalil. Nayed began forming the Tripoli Stabilisation Team, at that point named the Tripoli Taskforce. Nayed formed a new team in Benghazi to work on the Tripoli Taskforce; working from the Tibesti offices and also established an Operations Room. A further site was allocated as a storage site for humanitarian aid and other preparations for Tripoli. At the Operations Room, the Tripoli Taskforce regularly briefed and worked closely focusing on stabilization planning and strategy with experts from the UK, French, Italian, Qatari and US teams in Benghazi. On 22 May, Nayed organized a meeting with Abdulmajeed Saif Nasr, a Council member, and with other members a meeting of the Tobu and Tuareg and others to enlist their help in the various security and humanitarian sectors. There was a turnout of almost 800 people.

Internal Stabilization Workshop in 22–23 July, with team coordinators and Khaled El-Ghuel.

In late May the Contact Group sent an International Stabilization Response Team (ISRT) to Benghazi. These were experts from Contact Group countries led by the British Department for International Development and they were set the task of conducting preliminary assessments and issuing a report for consideration by the Contact Group. Nayed’s team, together with Foreign Minister Jehani of the NTC, were tasked with engaging with the ISRT team. The Tripoli Taskforce subsequently presented high-level and initial plans for the stabilization of vital sectors such as security, telecommunications, health, water, food, electricity, education, media and messaging, infrastructure, municipal services, and other vital sectors. The initial plans were praised by the ISRT team and other international partners and also by some NTC ministers. The Tripoli Taskforce organized two workshops in Benghazi, with the final one prior to the end of ISRT’s visit to Benghazi to assess and engage with their initial report. Dr Nayed had particularly pressed the ISRT to provide an update on the NTC request for De la Rue to release Libyan dinars. A report was delivered by the ISRT on 30 May and it was forwarded to the NTC. This document was foundational for the legal pursuit of the bank notes.

On 8 June, Nayed received a further decree from Jibril confirming and supporting the earlier decree by Jalil that appointed Nayed as coordinator of the Tripoli Taskforce. During June, Nayed returned to Dubai to add additional technical experts and project managers to the Tripoli Taskforce. In the weeks that followed, robust and sector-specific teams were formed with Libyan experts from the US, Europe, Middle East, together with those in Libya. Each sector had a detailed first phase plan prepared and that formed the basis for the presentations that were made to Contact Group partners in July. On 9 June, Nayed accompanied Jibril to a meeting with Abdallah Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates.[32]

In late June, Jibril formed a steering committee to oversee the stabilisation of the whole of Libya. The Tripoli Taskforce was therefore subsumed under the larger stabilization plan for the country. The first meeting of the Organizing Committee was held in Abu Dhabi and organized by Nayed on 4–5 July. The meeting was chaired by Jibril and included Foreign Minister Mahmoud Shammam and several key Libyan leaders and individuals. Nayed presented the Stabilization Team’s plans as did others.

On 15 July, Nayed and his colleagues in the Tripoli Taskforce attended the 4th Contact Group Meeting in Istanbul and presented the stabilisation plans there. The stabilisation presentation was a key highlight of the Contact Group meeting and was cited positively by Hillary Clinton, Frattini, William Hague and other leaders. Requests were made by all main Contact Group countries for workshops to study the details of the stabilisation plan produced by Nayed and his team.[33]

Stabilising Libya workshop held in Dubai, with Minister Ahmed Jehani patched in from Benghazi.

Nayed convened an Internal Stabilisation Workshop in 22–23 July, with his team coordinators and with Eng. Khaled El-Ghuel. The two-day workshop discussed the plans in detail with Eng. Khaled, who was formerly the head of the public works authority in Tripoli. On 28 and 29 July, Nayed hosted the Stabilising Libya Workshop with the Contact Group experts. The workshop was held at Dubai Knowledge Village. All key stabilisation experts from the UN, EU, US, UK and other countries attended to study in detail the stabilisation plans developed by the team. The NTC’s Minister for Infrastructure and Reconstruction, Jehani joined the workshop via a skype link-up from Benghazi.

Once the Stabilising Libya Workshop ended, key team members from the stabilisation team left for Tunisa and then for the Western Mountain where they spent the coming weeks meeting and discussing the stabilisation plans with Libyan professionals and local councils. They held meetings over this period with over 600 key Libyan personalities and officials and incorporate their efforts to the wider stabilisation plans. The Libya Stabilisation Team was thus developed to encapsulate a wider remit for all parts of the country. All of the Nafusa Mountain councils were firmly behind the stabilisation efforts.

On 2 September, Nayed held a meeting in Paris with senior decision makers from international organizations that included the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, European Union, World Bank and USAID. The purpose of the workshop was to release details on Stabilisation Team Priority Sectors to improve communications and aid flow from these organizations, through the Stabilisation Team, to Libyans. Focus was on Tripoli and the provision of prioritized assistance - especially water and fuel.

Throughout September the Stabilisation Team continued to work on the ground in Libya, liaising with the NTC at the strategic level and with town councils, militia and various other groups at the operational level. Town hall meetings, deployments of assessment and repair teams, retrieval of telephone records, logistical assistance in the distribution of humanitarian aid were all examples of the wide range of activities under the Team's remit. As the situation improved, the Team increasingly withdrew from working in sectors to ensure that NTC Ministries could fully take over.

Ambassador of Libya to UAE, and work to stabilize Libya

In early August the NTC announced Nayed as the new Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and he was given possession of the Libyan Consulate buildings in Dubai. He was the first ambassador to be officially appointed under the NTC.[34] The Libya Stabilisation Team moved its operations HQ to the Libyan Consulate in Dubai with a full team working around the clock on all vital sectors and continued its diplomatic work with NATO. On 11 August, a Libyan cargo plane took off safely to Benghazi.

A public gathering was held on 19 August to mark the opening of the Libyan Consulate in Dubai. Over 500 Libyans residing in the UAE came to mark this key occasion. The famous Libyan Qur'an reciter, Sheikh Dukali, attended the ceremony and held the tarawih prayer at the Consulate. The new Libyan flag was raised at the consulate.[35]

On 21 August, Day 1 of the Stabilisation Plan was announced by Jehani and Nayed at a press conference.[36][37] Both Jehani and Nayed held key interviews for television and newspapers with all main media outlets, and daily press releases and regular press conferences were held at the Libyan Consulate in Dubai. On 22–23 August, the Libya Stabilisation team held a Security Workshop with the Contact Group members. Attending the meeting included specialist heads the UN, EU, US, UK, Italy, Canada, and the UAE. The two-day workshop, chaired by Jehani, discussed the immediate security and humanitarian needs for Tripoli and the rest of the country. Nayed presented a detailed report of the security situation in the country and an update on immediate developments. In Dubai on 23–24 August, Nayed held the initial meetings between the UN and NTC. Ian Martin (the Secretary General’s Special Representative to Libya) and Hansjeorg Strommeyer (Chief of Policy at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) attended.

In Doha on 24 August, Nayed led the Libyan delegation at a mini Contact Group meeting of specialists on Unfreezing Assets and deciding humanitarian assistance for the Libyan People. Before the meeting in Doha, Nayed held interviews with CNN and with the Wall Street Journal.[38][39] In Istanbul on 25 August, Nayed attended the Fifth Contact Group Meeting as part of the Libyan delegation.[40] Nayed held detailed meetings with UN Special Representative Ian Martin, and UNDP Resident Representative in Libya, Constanza Farina. The Stabilization Team gave a copy of the stabilization plan presentation to all participants. Nayed left meeting early to send teams to work on the water crisis in Tripoli.[41]

On 26 August, Nayed was invited by the UN went to Tunisia to meet with UN agencies in their operational centre in Zarzis. Nayed held the first operational meetings between the NTC and the UN. Meetings were convened on water, medicine and food, and Nayed briefed UN on the current situation and the crisis regarding water. On 27 August, during the ongoing water crisis in Tripoli, Nayed and members of the LST held key operational meetings on water with the UN. These meetings ensured that the UN and the NTC were coordinated in terms of water delivery and established method of delivery. They worked on implementation plan for water.[42] From Tunisia, Nayed left for Tripoli and set up the Stabilization Team’s operations rooms at the Corinthia Hotel with his Libya Stabilization Team. Nayed and the LST team liaised with UN from 30 August to arrange UN Security Team to assess the level of security in Tripoli. Tripoli was decided to be safe enough for initial mission by Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Ian Martin, and subsequently allowed UN operational teams to work in Tripoli. On 30–31 August, Nayed and the LST liaised with UN and NTC to get a formal request for water from Libya to the UN, to formalise the bilateral relationship between the UN and Libya. On 1 September, the stabilization team arrived early and worked with French and UN security and protocol teams to organise arrangements, security and logistics for meeting between UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Jalil and Jehani.[43]

Police cars donated by the UAE arriving at Tripoli Airport.

Nayed flew to Paris for a major donor’s meeting on 2 September. The high-level donors meeting in Paris was chaired by Jehani and the UN’s Ian Martin, and was attended by all major donor organizations. Nayed presented the NTC’s stabilization plan to all agencies, who subsequently agreed to work with NTC. From this meeting a special framework for engagement was established between NTC and these organizations.[44][45]

After the liberation of Tripoli, the Libya Stabilization Team and its members worked intensively and restored electricity, telecommunications, and water supply and fuel. They worked closely and held regular press briefings with Ali Tarhouni, Faituri, Shammam, Najib Bakarat and other ministers. Nayed helped the UAE reopen its embassy in Tripoli and received the UAE diplomatic delegation in Libya. He also arranged for UAE support for the Interior Ministry, including delivery of 100 police cars to the Tripoli police along with uniforms and equipment. Nayed later held a press conference to hand over all work in these key sectors to the relevant ministries.

Ambassadorial Role

Ministerial Visit to the UAE.
Libyan Minister of Culture at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair

On 20 September, Nayed returned to UAE to take part in the Annual Ceremony where all new ambassadors gave their credentials to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Since Nayed became Ambassador the Libyan Mission the UAE has hosted several high-profile delegations from Libya. Delegations have included a team of Ministers along with the Prime Minister Abdurrahman Al Keib, a large group from the Libyan Ministry of Culture, leaders from the Tripoli Local Council, among others. Delegations have been introduced to their various counterparts in the Emirates. The Libyan Ministry of Culture visit included travel to sites of significance and to cultural organizations in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The Consulate in Dubai has also hosted several Libyan sports teams for training and competition in the UAE including the Libyan National Football team and the Libyan Chess team.

Since the liberation of Libya he has made a number of public addresses, in universities in Libya, Turkey and the UK.[46][47][48] He was also asked to make the key-note address in the TEDx Tripoli event, where Deputy Prime-Minister Abushagur also gave a speech.[49] He gives regular teachings in Dubai on Islamic theology and philosophy and its role in the lives of people today.[50]

During Nayed’s time leading the Libyan diplomatic mission to the UAE, consular services were restored and good diplomatic relations were established and upheld with both the UAE and other states.

The Libyan diplomatic mission also participated in the organization of a charity football match.[51] The Embassy staff also helped Etihad airways with a launch event for a direct UAE-Libya route with an inaugural flight with numerous dignitaries.[52] A small community event to celebrate the 17 February was hosted by the Libyan Consulate in Dubai.[53] Nayed also resided over the reopening of the Libyan Embassy in Abu Dhabi; as control of the previous embassy was returned to the landlords once the Gaddaffi era diplomats were expelled from the UAE.[54] The staff of the Libyan Mission facilitated a visit by the Libyan PM, Abdul Rahim ElKeeb, along with nine ministers, who were on a tour of the gulf region and wanted to meet UAE officials.[55] Nayed’s staff also helped coordinate a fact-finding visit by the Libyan Ministry of Culture to the UAE, which included visits to the Abu Dhabi Book Fair, and museums and cultural sites in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.[56][57] During this visit the Libyan Embassy also organized a traditional Libyan musical performance,[58] A series of debates on pertinent issues of concern to Libyans were also held including on critical thinking and the issue of federalism in Libya.[59][60]

During the year that Dr Nayed was in charge of the Libyan diplomatic mission cordial relations were established with all other diplomatic missions, and a reception of all ambassadors to UAE was held in the reopened Libyan embassy in Abu Dhabi.[61] Overseas voting was held in the Dubai consulate, along with voting centres in Amman, Berlin, London, Washington DC, and Canada.[62][63] In line with the original agreement with NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Nayed stepped down from the ambassadorial post, once elections were held successfully in Libya.

Education

Nayed brought together a selection of major international universities and training establishments to set up the Libya Institute of Advanced Studies. The Institute is focused in building capacity among Libya's young people in areas that would benefit the country's future.

Theological

He is member of the Board of Advisors of the prestigious Templeton Foundation; Senior Advisor to the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme at the University of Cambridge, UK; and Fellow of the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute in Jordan. He was included in the list of 500 most influential Muslims published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Amman. He was a former professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, and the International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization, Malaysia.

Nayed is one of the leading Muslim figures in the field of inter-faith relations, and has been involved in various inter-iaith initiatives since 1987, including the recent A Common Word process, of which he was one of the original signatories. He was part of the Muslim delegation at the seminal Common Word bilateral meetings between Muslims and Christians at the Vatican, Lambeth Palace, Cambridge, Yale and Georgetown. In 2006 when Pope Benedict XVI made controversial comments on Islam in Regensburg, Germany, Nayed was one of 138 Muslim scholars who drafted a letter inviting Catholic-Muslim dialogue. He also took part in a conference of clerics who reinterpreted the 14th-century scholar Ibn Taymiyya’s celebrated fatwa on jihad, arguing that radical Islamists who use it to justify killing are misguided.[64]

When the Libyan civil war started in February 2011, he and other clerics issued a joint fatwa calling on Libyans to resist Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Two days later he fled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he ran Kalam Research & Media, an Islamic theological research and policy organization, until he was appointed as Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

Publications

Books

His forthcoming books include:

Monographs

External links

References

  1. ↑ وكيل وزارة الخارجية يتسلم نسخة من أوراق اعتماد سفير الدولة الليبية, UAE: WAM Emirates News Agency, 10 August 2011
  2. ↑ kalamresearch.com
  3. ↑ "Stop the Mass Killings of Peaceful Demonstrators in Libya" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 19 February 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Libyan Muslim Leaders Urge Military to Stop Shooting Protesters". Faithworld (Reuters). 19 February 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "Libyan protesters want basic human rights". Today Programme (BBC Radio Four). 21 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "Call For Full Rebellion in Libya" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 21 February 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 22 February. Retrieved 19 September 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ "ENDORSEMENT AND SUPPORT OF THE DECLARATIONS OF THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 17TH, 2011" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 23 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Call for International Action" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 26 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Endorsement and Support of New Interim Government" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 27 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "To the Brave Women of Libya" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 8 March 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "Response to the Chavez Initiative" (PDF). Free Ulema press release (Network of Free Ulema). 3 March 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  13. ↑ "Press conference with Franco Frattini & Ali Al Issawi". Capital Pictures Shelter (Capital Pictures). 4 April 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  14. ↑ "Press conference with Franco Frattini & Ali Al Issawi". Agencia Italia (Agencia Italia Channel YouTube). 4 April 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE: 3082nd Council meeting" (PDF). Consilium (Council of the European Union). 12 April 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  16. ↑ "Mahmoud Jebril Pictures and photos". Newshopper (Sulekha). 12 April 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  17. ↑ "Libya: Meeting of the Contact Group in Doha, Qatar". Consulate General website (Consulat général de France à Atlanta). 13 April 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  18. ↑ "Head of the Libyan National Transitional Council visits UK". ShababLibya.org (The Libyan Youth Movement). 12 May 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  19. ↑ "Deliver Gadhafi to courtroom justice". The GlobeandMail.com (The Globe and Mail). 4 May 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "Libya rebels say bartering crude for fuel, supplies". Reuters Africa (Reuters). 13 April 2011.
  21. ↑ "Libya Contact Group meeting in Rome concludes". fco.gov.uk (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "Libya Conference - Abu Dhabi". Snakhooda (SmugMug). 9 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  23. ↑ "Conference of Libyan regional councils pledges support to NTC". WAM.ae (Emirates News Agency). 9 May 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  24. ↑ "Libyan delegates back rebel council". AlJazeera website (Al Jazeera). 9 May 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  25. ↑ "Transitional council looks at safe exit plan for Gaddafi". GulfNews.com (Gulf News). 10 May 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  26. ↑ "Libyan transition council seeks global recognition". CCTV News (YouTube). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 22 September. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ↑ "National Anthem May 11, 2011". Aljazeera Mubasher (YouTube). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  28. ↑ "Local councils of Libya sides with opposition, affirms unity". English.xinhuanet.com (Xinhua). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  29. ↑ "Libya Conference - Doha - 11th May 2011". Snakhooda (SmugMug). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  30. ↑ "Libya Conference - Benghazi 1". Snakhooda (SmugMug). 11 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  31. ↑ "Freedom Square Rally, Benghazi, Libya". Snakhooda (SmugMug). 13–14 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  32. ↑ "Co-Chairs' Statement Third Meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya". wam.org.ae (Emirates News Agency). 9 June 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  33. ↑ "Libya contact group recognizes legitimacy of Libyan opposition". CNTV.cn (CCTV). 16 July 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  34. ↑ "وكيل وزارة الخارجية يتسلم نسخة من أوراق اعتماد سفير الدولة الليبية". wam.org.ae (Emirates News Agency). 10 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  35. ↑ "Libyan consulate reopens in UAE with new rebel envoy". the national (Abu Dhabi Media Agency). 21 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  36. ↑ "Sun, 21 Aug 2011, 20:23". Al Jazeera Libya Live Blog (Al Jazeera). 21 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  37. ↑ "Gaddafi Regime Collapsing". FT.com (Financial Times). 22 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  38. ↑ "Interview With Libyan Ambassador to the UAE, Aref Ali Nayed". CNN.com (CNN). 24 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  39. ↑ "Rebels Plan U.N. Talks". WSJ.com (Wall Street Journal). 24 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  40. ↑ "Libya Contact Group". Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua). 25 August 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  41. ↑ "Contact Group agrees on asset release as Russia urges UN role in post-Qaddafi Libya". alarabiya.net (AlArabiya). 25 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  42. ↑ "Libya conflict: Rebels vow to resolve Tripoli shortages". BBC.com (British Broadcasting Corporation). 27 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  43. ↑ "At Paris conference, Ban pledges UN support for democratic and stable Libya". UN.org (United Nations News Centre). 1 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  44. ↑ "Libyans, foreign officials discuss aid needs". Guardian.co.uk (The Guardian). 2 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  45. ↑ "Libyans stress harmony to avoid Iraq-style chaos". Reuters.com (Reuters). 4 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  46. ↑ "The Libyan Revolution". Speech at SOAS (Kalam Research/SOAS). 5 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  47. ↑ "The Libyan Revolution and its Future". Speech at Cambridge School of Divinity (Kalam Research/Cambridge University). 5 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  48. ↑ "The Dilemma of Arab Springs". Speech at Fatih Sultan Mehmet University (Kalam Research/Fatih Sultan Mehmet University). 5 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  49. ↑ "TEDxTripoli 2012 - Aref Ali Nayed". TEDx Tripoli (YouTube). 27 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  50. ↑ "Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's Mathnawi al-Arab al-Nuri - Lecture 3". Kalam Research public lecture (YouTube). 25 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  51. ↑ "Football legends hold charity match for injured Libyan children". The National (The National Newspaper, Abu Dhabi). 9 November 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  52. ↑ "Etihad launches Tripoli flights". online article (Business Traveller Middle East). 18 January 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  53. ↑ "17th February Libyan Celebration - Dubai". Photo gallery (Smug Mug). 18 February 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  54. ↑ "A Year's Teamwork". Embassy of Libya in UAE video (YouTube). 10 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  55. ↑ "Abu Dhabi Crown Prince receives Libyan Prime Minister". Gulf News Online Article (Gulf News). 16 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  56. ↑ "Sharjah Museums Department receives Libyan ambassador and his accompanying delegation". AME Info online article (AMEInfo). 7 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  57. ↑ "The delegation from the Libyan Ministry of Culture visits the Sharjah Museums". Embassy of Libya in UAE public video (YouTube). 10 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  58. ↑ "A Night of Libyan Poetry and Music - Part 1 Poetry". Embassy of Libya in UAE public video (YouTube). 9 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  59. ↑ "A Discussion on Elections and Federalism in Libya - Part 1". Embassy of Libya in UAE public lecture (YouTube). 10 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  60. ↑ "A Discussion on Critical Thinking and Forensic Medicine - Part 1". Embassy of Libya in UAE public lecture (YouTube). 9 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  61. ↑ "Year's Teamwork - The Embassy of Libya in the UAE". Embassy of Libya in UAE public video (YouTube). 10 July 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  62. ↑ "H.E. Dr. Aref Ali Nayed makes an announcement regarding the up coming elections". Embassy of Libya in the UAE Public Video (YouTube). 4 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  63. ↑ "First day of Voting in for the Libyan Elections". Embassy of Libya in the UAE Public Video (YouTube). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  64. ↑ New York Times 09/17/2011