Abd al-Rahman al-Azzam

1893 - 1976

First secretary-general of the Arab League.

Abd al-Rahman al-Azzam started his political life as an anti-British Egyptian nationalist. Although he was a Wafdist in the first phase of his political life, he became associated with King Farouk and the anti-Wafdist prime minister Ali Mahir from the mid-1930s on. He was pan-Arabist and panIslamist at the same time. When Italy conquered Libya, then an Ottoman province in 1911, Azzam volunteered against the Italian invaders. During World War I, he left Egypt and fought alongside Sanusi forces in Cyrenaica (east Libya today) and the Egyptian western desert.

From 1934 on, Azzam called for the formation of an Arab bloc since, according to him, there was no place in the present age for small countries with limited resources. He also believed closer Arab ties would bring Egypt political, economic, and strategic advantages.

Azzam was appointed by the council of the League of Arab States in 1945 when the pact of the league was signed by member countries. He served as secretary-general until 1952, when he was replaced by Abd al-Khaliq Hassuna. Before becoming the league's secretary-general, Azzam served in a number of diplomatic positions and carried numerous diplomatic missions on behalf of Egypt to many Arab capitals.

Bibliography

Gomaa, Ahmed. The Foundation of the League of Arab States:Wartime Diplomacy and Inter-Arab Politics, 1941 to 1945. London: Longman, 1977.

Macdonald, Robert. The League of Arab States: A Study in theDynamics of Regional Organization. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.

— MAHMOUD HADDAD