Mahmoud Riad

Mahmoud Riad (also: Mahmud Riyyad ) (Arabic: محمود رياض ) ( born January 8, 1917 in Al- Qalyubiyya; † January 25, 1992 in Cairo ) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat.

Biography

After his participation in the Palestine War 1948 to 1949 he was a member of the Egyptian delegation to the armistice negotiations with Israel in 1949. After the military coup of 23 July 1952 to the fall of the monarchy, he entered the service of the Foreign Ministry, where he was head of unit for Palestine. Subsequently, he was from 1953 to 1955 director of Arab affairs and then to 1958, ambassador to Syria. After his return, he was Special Advisor of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1962 he was appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City.

Then Riad was Foreign Minister from 1964 to 1972 and also 1971-1972 and Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Mahmoud Fawzi. In these roles, he campaigned for the peaceful settlement of the conflict and convinced many states to an international boycott of Israel to accede to force this to concessions.

On 1 June 1972 he succeeded his compatriot Abdel Khaliq Hassuna as Secretary General of the Arab League. Although he was against the peace initiative of President Anwar Sadat to Israel, because it was a unilateral step, in his view, which caused a rift in the Arab world, he sought the Arab League to hold together. However, in March 1979, he resigned after other Arab states voted for the exclusion of Egypt from the league and the relocation of the headquarters of the Organization from Cairo to Tunis. Following this, however, he remained a trusted advisor to the governments of President Sadat and Hosni Mubarak.