Egypt fileds Mubarak’s foreign minister for Arab League

“The Arab League has been officially notified by Egypt that its candidate for the post of secretary general is foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit,” Ahmed Ben Helli, the deputy chief of the body, said Monday.

The news comes about a week after the league’s current chief Nabil al-Arabi, 80, declined to take over for a second term after his current one ends in July.

Arab League foreign ministers will discuss the candidacy of Gheit, 74, in a meeting on Thursday.

Helli also told reporters that only Egypt had so far presented a candidate to head the Cairo-based league.

Traditionally, the Arab League chief has held the post for two terms, and Egypt has always insisted that it be held by one of its diplomats. The latest nomination raises questions as Gheit served under Mubarak, a dictator ousted in the 18-day uprising in early 2011.

After Mubarak’s ouster, Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi was elected president, but was later ousted in a military coup led by then military chief Abel Fattah al-Sisi in July 2013.

Sisi later took over as president, and his government has been cracking down on any opposition since Morsi’s ouster. Hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces over the past few years while thousands more have been jailed.