Samir Shihabi

Infobox_Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name = Samir Shihabi


imagesize =
order = President of the United Nations General Assembly
term_start =
term_end =
predecessor = Guido de Marco
successor = Stoyan Ganev
birth_date = birth date and age|1925|5|27
birth_place = Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine
death_date =
death_place =
spouse =

Samir Shihabi, born in Jerusalem on May 27, 1925 [ [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1191/9111044.htm "General Assembly Elects a Saudi President as 46th Session Opens"] , "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs", November 1991] [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE143EF93BA2575AC0A967958260 "Saudi Elected by the U.N. Assembly"] , "New York Times", September 18, 1991] , is a former Saudi diplomat.

Education

Shihabi studied at the American University in Cairo, obtaining a degree in political and economic sciences [ [http://www.un.org/french/ga/president/bios/bio46f.shtml Biography] on the website of the United Nations] , as well as at the Universities of Yale, Cambridge and New York. [ [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1191/9111044.htm "General Assembly Elects a Saudi President as 46th Session Opens"] , "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs", November 1991]

Political career

Shihabi began working for the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1949. He was appointed to top diplomatic postings in Turkey, Switzerland, Somalia, Italy and Pakistan, before becoming Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the United Nations in 1983. [ [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1191/9111044.htm "General Assembly Elects a Saudi President as 46th Session Opens"] , "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs", November 1991] In 1991, he was elected to preside over the 46th session of the United Nations General Assembly. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE143EF93BA2575AC0A967958260 "Saudi Elected by the U.N. Assembly"] , "New York Times", September 18, 1991]

The "New York Times" described him as " [a] friendly, avuncular figure [who] collects ornate walking sticks, which he often carries around the United Nations. He keeps a generous supply of chocolate in his pocket, which he hands out to friends as he strolls around the buildings." [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE143EF93BA2575AC0A967958260 "Saudi Elected by the U.N. Assembly"] , "New York Times", September 18, 1991]

References