The former Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel Meguid died Saturday at the age of 91.
His successor, Nabil al-Araby, officially mourned the passing in a statement. The Arab League has lowered its flags for three days to mourn his death.
“The deceased had been one of the most prominent symbols of diplomacy in Egypt and the Arab world for many years. I have worked with him for several years at the Foreign Ministry and during the negotiation to restore the Egyptian territories of Taba. I also was his deputy in the Permanent Mission of Egypt in New York. I've seen his deep knowledge and calm diplomacy,” Araby said in his statement.
Abdel Meguid was born in Alexandria on March 22, 1922, and obtained a Bachelor of Law from the University of Alexandria in 1944, as well as four diplomas from the University of Paris in law, economics and political science. He also received his PhD in international law from the University of Paris in 1951.
He had held many important positions in the diplomatic corps, including as the supplement and the third secretary of the Embassy of Egypt in London, and as a political adviser responsible for the implementation of the Convention on the British army's eviction from Egypt (1954-1956).
He was also the official spokesman for the Egyptian government in 1969, the Egyptian ambassador to France in 1970, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs in 1970 and 1972 and the ambassador and permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations in New York from 1972 to 1983.
He served as foreign minister from 1984 to 1991, then as deputy prime minister. He took over the post of Secretary General of the Arab League for two terms from 1991 to 2001.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
