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Nabil Elaraby
Nabil Elaraby
نبيل العربي
	Elaraby in 2013
7th Secretary-General of the Arab League
	In office; 1 July 2011 – 3 July 2016
Deputy	Samir Nasibi
Preceded by	Amr Moussa
Succeeded by	Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 6 March 2011 – 1 June 2011
Prime Minister	Essam Sharaf
Preceded by	Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Succeeded by	Mohamed Orabi
Ambassador to the United Nations
	In office; 20 May 1991 – 20 May 1995
President	Hosni Mubarak
Preceded by	Amr Moussa
Succeeded by	Ahmed Asmat Abdel-Meguid
Personal details
Born	15 March 1935; Cairo, Egypt
Died	26 August 2024 (aged 89)
Alma mater	Cairo University; New York University

Nabil Elaraby (Arabic: نبيل العربي; 15 March 1935 – 26 August 2024) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the 7th Secretary General of the Arab League from 1 July 2011 to 3 July 2016. Elaraby also had roles in the United Nations, holding positions at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and serving as a Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Elaraby served as one of the liaisons between the protesters and the government during the 2011 Egyptian protests, and played a key role in pressing for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak.^[2] Afterwards, he served as the Foreign Affairs Minister of Egypt in Essam Sharaf's post-revolution government from March to June 2011.

Elaraby also served on the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva from 1999 to 2001, and was a member of the International Court of Justice from 2001 to February 2006. He was honored with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Arab Republic of Egypt and as the Grand Officier of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia.

Personal life

Elaraby was born on 15 March 1935.^[1] He held a J.S.D. (1971) and an LL.M. (1969) from the New York University School of Law and a law degree from Cairo University's Faculty of Law (1955).^[3]^[4]

Elaraby died on 26 August 2024, at the age of 89.^[5]

Career

Elaraby was a partner at Zaki Hashem & Partners in Cairo, specialising in negotiations and arbitration.^[4]

Egyptian government

Elaraby was legal adviser and director in the Legal and Treaties Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1978 and then Ambassador to India from 1981 to 1983. He then returned to his previous post at the Foreign Ministry from 1983 to 1987.^[4]

He was legal adviser to the Egyptian delegation to the Camp David Middle East peace conference in 1978, head of the Egyptian delegation to the Taba negotiations from 1985 to 1989, and Agent of the Egyptian Government to the Egyptian-Israeli arbitration tribunal (Taba dispute) from 1986 to 1988.^[6]

He was appointed by the Egyptian Minister of Justice to the list of arbitrators in civil and commercial affairs in Egypt in 1995.^[7]

He was Egypt's top negotiator at the Taba Summit in 2001.^[1]

United Nations

In 1968, Elaraby was an Adlai Stevenson Fellow in International Law at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).^[7] He was appointed a Special Fellow in International Law at UNITAR in 1973, and was legal adviser to the Egyptian delegation to the United Nations Geneva Middle East peace conference from 1973 to 1975.^[8]

Elaraby was Egypt's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1978 to 1981, the Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva from 1987 to 1991, the Permanent Representative to the UN in New York from 1991 to 1999, a member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations from 1994 to 2004, President of the Security Council in 1996, and vice-president of the General Assembly in 1993, 1994 and 1997.^[7] He was a commissioner at the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva from 1999 to 2001,^[7] and a member of the International Court of Justice from 2001 to February 2006.^[9]

Elaraby served as chairman for the First (Disarmament and international security questions) Committee of the General Assembly,^[10] the Informal Working Group on an Agenda for Peace, the Working Group on Legal Instruments for the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and the UN Special Committee on Enhancing the Principle of the Prohibition of the Use of Force in International Relations.^[8]

Other international work

Elaraby was an Arbitrator at the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration in Paris in a dispute concerning the Suez Canal from 1989 to 1992. He was a judge in the Judicial Tribunal of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1990.^[11]

Elaraby was a member of the governing board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute from 2000 to 2010.^[12] Beginning in December 2008 he served as the Director of the Regional Cairo Centre for International Commercial Arbitration^[13] and as a counsel of the Sudanese government in the "Abyei Boundary" Arbitration between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Revolutionary Movement.^[14]

2011 Egyptian revolution and transitional government

Nabil Elaraby was one of the group of about 30 high-profile Egyptians acting as liaison between the protesters and the government, and pressing for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak.^[2]

At a democracy forum on 25 February 2011, he said the Egyptian government suffered from a lack of separation of powers, a lack of transparency and a lack of judicial independence. He said foreign policy should be based on Egypt's interests, including "holding Israel accountable when it does not respect its obligations."^[15]

On 6 March 2011, he was appointed Foreign Affairs Minister of Egypt in Essam Sharaf's post-revolution cabinet.^[16] Thereafter, he opened the Rafah Border Crossing with Gaza and brokered the reconciliation of Hamas with Fatah.^[17]

Arab League

On 15 May 2011, he was appointed Secretary General of the Arab League, succeeding Amr Moussa.^[18]^[19] He officially took office on 1 July 2011 and served until 3 July 2016.^[20]

Honours

Ribbon bar	Country	Honour
	Egypt	Grand Cordon of the Order of the Arab Republic of Egypt^{[citation needed]}
	Japan	Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star^[21]
	Tunisia	Grand Officier of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia^{[citation needed]}

Publications

(in Arabic) Taba, Camp David, Israeli West Bank barrier : From United Nations Security Council to the International Court of Justice (طابا.. كامب ديفيد.. الجدار العازل: صراع الدبلوماسية من مجلس الأمن إلى المحكمة الدولية), ed. Dar al-Chorouq, Cairo, 2017.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Nabil Elaraby, Egypt's Negotiator of Camp David Peace Conference and Taba Summit dies at 89". EgyptToday. 26 August 2024. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b Elaraby in Egypt's "council of the wise" Archived 16 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Alison Ross, Global Arbitration Review, 9 February 2011
^ "وفاة الدبلوماسي المخضرم نبيل العربي أمين الجامعة العربية السابق". يمن شباب نت (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Nabil Elaraby". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
^ "Умер экс-глава МИД Египта Набиль аль-Араби". Tass. 26 August 2024. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
^ "Dr. Nabil Elaraby | CRCICA". 14 May 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Election of a member of the International Court of Justice Curricula vitae of candidates nominated by national groups Note by the Secretary-General (2001) UN Doc A/56/374–S/2001/883 Archived 27 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 26, 2024
^ ^a ^b "Nabil A. Elaraby (Egypt) Elected Chairman of Committee on Non-Use of Force". 24 March 1981 – via digitallibrary.un.org.
^ "General Assembly Speakers Applaud Award of Nobel Peace Prize to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and United Nations; Nabil Elaraby (egypt) Elected to Fill Vacancy on International Court of Justice". United Nations : Information Service Vienna.
^ "Nabil Elaraby of Egypt is Elected Chairman of First Committee". 15 September 1992. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024 – via digitallibrary.un.org.
^ "Dr. Nabil Elaraby, chairman and director of CRCICA, passes away". 27 August 2024. Archived from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
^ "CV Dr Nabil Elaraby". The Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA). Archived from the original on 18 March 2011.
^ "Elaraby to direct Cairo Centre, Global Arbitration Review, 15 December 2008". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
^ "The Government of Sudan / The Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (Abyei Arbitration), Permanent Court of Arbitration". Archived from the original on 20 November 2011.
^ Answering the public, Egypt names a new cabinet Archived 6 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Neil MacFarquhar and Mona el-Naggar, The New York Times, 6 March 2011
^ Egypt appoints new key ministers Archived 7 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Al Jazeera English, 6 March 2011
^ Egypt's new foreign policy tests old alliances, Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2011
^ Egypt FM Nabil El-Arabi named Arab League chief Archived 11 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Ahram Online, 15 May 2011
^ Elaraby to head Arab League Archived 28 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, David Elward, Global Arbitration Review, 16 May 2011
^ "وفاة الدبلوماسي المخضرم نبيل العربي أمين الجامعة العربية السابق". يمن شباب نت. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
^ 2024 Spring Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals

External links

Biography at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 March 2011) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Appearances on C-SPAN
Egypt’s foreign minister on the way forward after Mubarak, Lally Weymouth, The Washington Post, 6 May 2011
Nabil El-Arabi – justice-based diplomacy, Dina Ezzat, Al-Ahram Weekly, 19 May 2011

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Amr Moussa	Ambassador to the United Nations 1991–1995	Succeeded by Ahmed Asmat Abdel-Meguid
Preceded by Amr Moussa	Secretary-General of the Arab League 2011–2016	Succeeded by Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Political offices
Preceded by Ahmed Aboul Gheit	Minister of Foreign Affairs 2011	Succeeded by Mohamed Orabi