Ahmad Maher () (14 September 1935 – 27 September 2010) was an Egyptian diplomat. He served as the foreign minister of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

from 2001 to 2004.

Early life and education

Maher was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

on 14 September 1935. He came from a family of diplomats and politicians. He was the brother of Ambassador Ali Maher and their grandfather,

Ahmad Mahir Pasha Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

, was one of the prime ministers of Egypt. He studied law at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

and graduated in 1956.

Career

After graduation Maher joined the foreign ministry in 1957, serving as a junior diplomat in Switzerland (9 February 1959 - 31 August 1963), Congo (5 May 1967 - 24 May 1971) and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(8 August 1974 - 30 September 1977). In addition, he was the national security advisor to the president of Egypt from 1971 to 1974. Next he was named as the head of the foreign minister’s staff.from 1978 to 1980. He was part of the Camp David talks in 1978, where he was assigned to coordinate efforts with the then US secretary of state Cyrus Vance. He also took part in the 1988 talks, leading to the return of Taba to Egyptian control after Israel occupied the town in 1967. Generally considered an outsider in Egyptian politics, Maher had a distinguished career as a diplomat. Most notably, he was ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(1 October 1988 - 19 June 1992) as well as ambassador to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(5 September 1980 - 8 November 1982) and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(8 November 1982 - 9 December 1984). In addition, he served as the ambassador in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

for seven years from 7 July 1992 to 14 September 1999. He retired from office in 1999. After retirement, he was named as the director of the Special Arab Aid Fund for Africa (SAAFA) in Cairo, a body of

the Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

, in 2000. He was appointed foreign minister on 15 May 2001, being the 71st figure in the post. He succeeded

Amr Moussa Amr Moussa ( ar, عمرو موسى, , Amr Muhammad Moussa; born 3 October 1936) is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary-General of the Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab states, from 1 June 2001 to 1 July 201 ...

as foreign minister after Moussa was appointed head of the Arab League. When he was in office many significant events in regard to the Arab world occurred, including the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

on the United States, the US-led

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

and the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים‎, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...

. During a visit to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as part of Egyptian efforts to relaunch the peace process, Maher was attacked by Palestinian activists in the

Al-Aqsa Aqsa'', ''Aksa, al-Aksa or al-Aqsa ( ar, الأقصى, link=no, translit=al-Aqṣā) usually refer to either: *al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known as , a religious site in Jerusalem located on the Temple Mount *, also known as the Qibli Mosque, ...

mosque compound in east Jerusalem in December 2003. The Palestinians booed and hurled shoes at him in protest at Egypt's perceived policy of appeasement towards Israel. His term ended in 2004 and

Ahmed Aboul Gheit Ahmed Aboul Gheit ( ar, أحمد أبو الغيط , also: Abu al-Ghayt, Abu El Gheyt, etc.) (born 12 June 1942) is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who has been Secretary-General of the Arab League since July 2016. He was reappointed for a s ...

replaced him in the post. In July 2010,

Hosni Mobarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

appointed him a member of the parliament's upper house, or Shura Council.

Death

Maher died of a heart attack on 27 September 2010 at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Ahmad 1935 births 2010 deaths Diplomats from Cairo Cairo University alumni Foreign ministers of Egypt Ambassadors of Egypt to the United States Ambassadors of Egypt to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Egypt to Portugal Ambassadors of Egypt to Belgium