Amr Moussa: Egypt’s would-be peacemaker in a transition government

Amr Moussa, a career diplomat, has style, charisma and the common touch, say those who know him Amr Moussa , the former Egyptian foreign minister and current secretary general of the Arab League , knows public opinion appreciates his style and charisma, and since the start of the upheaval in Cairo he has made it increasingly clear that he wishes to play a part in a possible political transition. In an interview broadcast by the news channel Al-Arabiya, he went so far as to offer his services to the cause. Moussa, 74, is a typical high-ranking Egyptian official. He started as a career diplomat at a time when his country was still the undisputed leader of the Arab world. He was appointed ambassador to India in 1983, then moved to the UN, taking over from Ahmed Asmat Abdel Meghid, who had just been appointed foreign minister by President Hosni Mubarak. The same pattern was repeated in 1991 when Mubarak gave him Meghid’s job at the head of the Egyptian diplomatic service, one of the most efficient in the region. Ten years later, Moussa took over from Meghid at the head of the Arab League. During his time at the foreign ministry, in a plush building on the banks of the Nile, Moussa earned considerable respect. Under his guidance Egypt brought its policy back into line with other Arab nations, after being ostracised following the Camp David accords in 1978 and the subsequent signature of a separate peace treaty with Israel. Moussa combines the unique experience of normalised relations (at least until October 1994 when Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty) with a degree of criticism regarding Israeli policy, which has contributed to his popularity. He tried (unsuccessfully) to make Egypt one of the arbitrators of the 1993 Oslo Accords [on settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute], alongside the US. When Mubarak decided to put him in charge of the Arab League, which is headquartered in Cairo not far from the foreign ministry, some Egyptian commentators concluded that the president was trying to sideline a public figure who was becoming uncomfortably popular. Certainly the League is a much less attractive post, paralysed as it is by the countless divisions within the Arab world and sometimes even in competition with the powerful Organisation of the Islamic Conference (set up by Saudi Arabia for precisely that purpose). “Moussa combines several assets,” says an Arab diplomat who knows him well. “He has the experience, a very solid international address book and bags of charisma. He also has the common touch, much more than someone like Mohamed ElBaradei, who is typically upper middle class.” Moussa was born in 1936, the same year as the new vice president, Omar Suleiman, so he can hardly embody the future. But he could well play a key role in the coming transition. This article originally appeared in Le Monde Egypt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 8, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry