26 December 2010, Aboul Gheit opened the first Egyptian consulate outside Baghdad in the northern city of Erbil in a one-day visit to Iraq, where he also held talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. After the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011, he ceased to be Foreign Affairs Minister on 6 March 2011, after which he devoted himself to writing his memoirs. Secretary-General of the Arab League Aboul Gheit was elected Secretary-General of the Arab League in March 2016, to succeed Nabil el-Arabi. However, his election was not without some League members' criticism, due to his age. His term commenced on 3 July 2016. Gheit called the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria a "blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty". On 11 May 2021, Gheit condemned Israeli air strikes on Gaza as "indiscriminate and irresponsible". Honours : Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic (Egypt) : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Egypt) : Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite : Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic : First Class of the Order of the Serbian Flag : Medal of the Order of Friendship Publications Egypt's Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis: My Testimony, Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 2019 Witness to War and Peace: Egypt, the October War, and Beyond, Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 2018 References |- 1942 births Ambassadors of Egypt to Italy Ambassadors of Egypt to San Marino Ambassadors of Egypt to North Macedonia Egyptian diplomats Foreign ministers of Egypt Living people Politicians from Cairo Permanent Representatives of Egypt to the United Nations Secretaries General of the Arab League