Egypt: Egyptian FM named new chief of Arab League

CAIRO, (Xinhua): Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi was unanimously chosen on Sunday as the new secretary general of the Arab League (AL) to replace Amr Moussa.

At an open meeting for all the AL countries, Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi, who chaired the session, presented el- Arabi as the new secretary general.

Egypt suddenly withdrew Moustafa el-Fikki, also a former diplomat, in the last minute and nominated el-Arabi for the post to get more Arab consensus, sources at the AL headquarters told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Qatari candidate Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah, former secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, withdrew from the competition.

El-Arabi saluted all the delegates and made his unprepared speech: "It is my pleasure to win this high confidence from the Arab countries as a chief of the pan-Arab body."

He expressed special thanks for Qatar and pledged to take all the necessary steps to enhance the common Arab agendas.

"I took this post in difficult times. The mutual Arab work is going through crisis. We must all stand together to solve the Arab world's problems," he added.