Samir al Shihabi, (27 May 1925 – 25 August 2010) served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1991 to 1992.

Early life and education

Shihabi was born in Jerusalem
''The New York Times'', September 18 1991 on 27 May 1925.
''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'', November 1991
''New York Times'', 18 September 1991 He did his undergraduate work at the American University of Cairo (AUC) and his graduate work at the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career

One of the most prominent Saudi diplomats of his generation, Shihabi joined the

Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA; ar, وزارة الخارجية ''Wizārat al-Khārijīyah'') is the ministry responsible for handling the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's external relations. The ministry oversees "political, cultural and finan ...

in 1949. He rose quickly to become Charge d'Affairs in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1959 and then served as Saudi Ambassador to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

from 1964 to 1973, Ambassador to

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

for six months in 1974 and then assumed the post of Deputy Foreign Minister early in the tenure of Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal. He was then appointed Ambassador to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1979, before becoming Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1983. In 1991, he was elected as President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. His final diplomatic posting, in 1994, was as Ambassador to Switzerland after which he retired in 1999. His career was marked by a close personal and working relationship with the late King Faisal and also the late King Fahd. He carried out sensitive missions for King Faisal in support of Saudi efforts to limit Soviet influence in the region. With King Fahd he worked closely on the Afghanistan file, post the Soviet invasion. His posting to Pakistan in 1979 was directly related to these efforts, and to putting in place the military alliance between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that by the early 1980s had over 10,000 Pakistani troops posted in the Kingdom. His election to the Presidency of the U.N General Assembly, in 1991, was one of the few hard-fought elections for what had traditionally been a consensus appointment by rotation among regions. This followed the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and the deep split in the Middle East between pro-Saddam Iraq nations and the GCC. Shihabi had also entered the race very late in the game, months after three other candidates had already declared their intent to run, including the Foreign Minister of Yemen and also after the US and UK governments had publicly pledged their support for another candidate (a Foreign Minister of a British Commonwealth country). His surprise victory, and by a wide margin, was commented on by the ''New York Times'' http://nyti.ms/1bon51H and ''Time'' magazine. http://ti.me/1dABrP2,

Personal life

Shihabi married Norwegian-born (Widad) Kari Stonjum. They met in 1946 at Britain's

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he was studying. They then settled in Saudi Arabia. Their son, Ali Shihabi, is a former Chairman of a bank and an author and Founder of the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC. .

Death

Shihabi died on 20 August 2010, in Portugal, Algarve, where he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shihabi, Samir 1925 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Permanent Representatives of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Yale University alumni Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia to Turkey 20th-century Saudi Arabian diplomats Diplomats from Jerusalem