An Egyptian politician and diplomat, born on October 3, 1936 in Cairo to a political family belonging to the governorates of Qalyubiya and Gharbia. He joined the Faculty of Law and obtained a law degree from Cairo University in 1957. He joined the diplomatic service at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1958. He worked as Director of the International Bodies Department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1977 and as a permanent representative of Egypt in the United Nations in 1990. He later became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1991 till 2001. He became the Secretary-General of the Arab League in 2001 until 2011, and was succeeded by Nabil Elaraby. He ran in the Egyptian presidential elections in 2012 but lost and came in fifth place with about 10% of the valid votes. In September 2013, he was appointed as a member of the fifty committee that was appointed to amend the Egyptian constitution, and the members of the committee elected him as its chairman, after defeating his rival Sameh Ashour.