Ahmed Aboul Gheit

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit (Arabic: أحمد أبو الغيط‎, also: Abu al-Ghayt, Abu El Gheyt, etc.) (born 12 June 1942) is a retired Egyptian diplomat who was the Foreign Minister of Egypt from 11 July 2004 to 6 March 2011. Aboul-Gheit previously served as Egypt's ambassador to the United Nations. In December 2005, he began mediating the Chad-Sudan conflict. He was succeeded by ICJ judge Nabil Elaraby in March 2011, following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

Early life and career

Born in Heliopolis in Cairo on 12 June 1942, Aboul Gheit was originally from the city of Port Saeed. He started his career as Third Secretary in the Embassy of Cyprus and moved into being the First Secretary for Egypt's Ambassador in the United Nations, Political Consultant in the Egyptian Embassy in Russia in 1984, and moved into being the Ambassador of Egypt in Rome, Macedonia and San Marino. In 1999 he was the head of Egypt's permanent delegation in the United Nations.

Regarding the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, he said "this was a very unfortunate statement and it is a statement that shows that there is a lack of understanding of real Islam. And because of this we are hopeful that such statements and such positions would not be stated in order to not allow tension and distrust and recriminations to brew between the Muslim as well as the west."