CAIRO, March 11: Veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Abul Gheit was named Thursday as the Arab League s new secretary general, at a time when the regional body faces multiple wars and a widening jihadist threat. In a sign of divisions within the pan-Arab body, however, Qatar voiced reservations over Abul Gheit s candidacy due to his “hostile positions” towards Doha, Arab diplomats said. “The consultations resulted in the nomination of Ahmed Abul Gheit to the post of secretary general,” Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa announced in televised remarks at the end of a ministerial meeting. Abul Gheit, who served as foreign minister under Egypt s ousted president Hosni Mubarak, takes office at a time when the Cairo-based Arab League is facing several tests of its unity. At the top of the list is the war in Syria that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011. The more than five-year-old conflict has seen regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran backing opposite sides. In addition, relations between Qatar and Egypt, which traditionally chooses candidates for the post of secretary general, have soured. Cairo accuses Doha of supporting its outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled by the army in 2013.
The Brotherhood has been the target of a brutal crackdown since then, and Doha has regularly denounced the operations that left hundreds dead and thousands in jail.- AFP
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