The Arab League has permanent delegations in New York and Geneva for the United Nations, in Addis Ababa for the Organization for African Unity (OAU), as well as offices in Bonn, Vienna, Brussels, Madrid, Washington, DC, New Delhi, Beijing, Moscow, Rome, London and Paris.

The League of Arab States was established on March 22, 1945 upon signature of its Pact by seven Arab States. The League is a national and regional organization that seeks to promote closer ties among member-states and coordinate their policies and their economic, cultural and security plans with a view to developing collective cooperation, protecting national security and maintaining the independence and sovereignty of member-states; thereby enhancing the potential for joint Arab action in all fields.

In the political field, the League is entrusted with the tasks of defending the supreme interests and national causes of the Arab world through the implementation of joint action plans at both regional and international levels as well as through the coordination of the relations of member-states with regional and international organizations.

The League is also entrusted with the task of examining whichever disputes that may arise between member-states and to adopt whichever resolutions and measures as may be deemed necessary to settle such disputes by peaceful means.

Economic, social and cultural activities constitute principal and vital elements of joint action in addition to the fact that they provide solid grounds for development, security, liberation and economic integration.

COMPOSITION

22 members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Yemen

STRUCTURE

According to the provisions of the Charter, the Council of the League is the supreme authority within the League system. The Charter defines the formation, competence, rules of procedure and voting of the Council which may be assisted in its work by some affiliate or standing committee. The Council is formed of representatives of member-states, usually at the level of foreign ministers, their representatives or permanent delegates. The Council is mainly concerned, inter alia, with pursuing the realization of the objectives of the League and following up the implementation of plans and programs that the member-states draw up with respect to Joint Arab action. In addition, the Council has the powers to decide on application for membership and accepting withdrawals from the League, as well as on the introduction of amendments to the Charter. The Council is also entrusted with the task of mediating for the settlement of disputes which threaten or lead to the eruption of hostilities between two of the member-states or between a member-state and a third party. Other functions of the Council include the drawing up of statutes for the subsidiary and affiliate bodies of the League and the appointment of the Secretary General who, in turn and after obtaining the approval of the Council, designates the Assistant Secretaries-General and senior League officials. The Council meets twice a year, in March and September, in regular sessions and may convene in extraordinary sessions if need be and should it so be requested by two or more of the member-states.

The Treaty for Joint Defence and Economic Co-operation provided for the establishment of a Joint Defence Council, formed of the foreign and defence ministers of member-states. The main task of this Council is to adopt whichever means and measures it deems necessary including the use of armed forces to repel any act of agression against any of the member-states and help restore peace and security.

The Treaty for Joint Defence and Economic Co-operation also provided for the establishment of an Economic Council which, by virtue of a resolution adopted by the Council of the League in 1977, was developed into an Economic and Social Council, to be formed of the minsters concerned or their deputies.

The Secretary General is the administrative body of the League and the executive organ of the Council of the League and the specialized ministerial councils. The current Secretary General is Ahmed Esmat ABDEL-MEGUID, who was unanimously elected to this post on May 15, 1991. Since the establishment of the League, the post of Secretary-General has been held by: Abdul-Rahman AZZAM (1945-1952); Abdul-Khaleq HASSOUNA (1952-1972); Mahmoud RIAD (1972-1979); Chedli KLIBI (1979-1990).

The Charter provides for the formation of specialized ministerial councils to hold regular meetings and be entrusted with the task of drawing up common policies for the regulation and advancement of cooperatrion in various fields. Thus far, twelve such councils have been set up as follows: (1) Council of Arab Information Ministers, (2) Council of Arab Interior Ministers, (3) Council of Arab Justice Ministers, (4) Council of Arab Housing Ministers, (5) Council of Arab Transport Ministers, (6) Council of Arab Social Affairs Ministers, (7) Council of Arab Youth and Sports Ministers, (8) Council of Arab Health Ministers, (9) Council of Arab Environmental Affairs Ministers, (10) Council of Arab Telecom Ministers, (11) Council of Arab Electricity Ministers, and (12) Council of Arab Tourism Ministers.

The Arab League has established several bodies and organizations as follows:

Arab Educational, Cultural, Scientific Organisation (ALECSO) (Tunis City, Tunisia established in 1964; General Manager Mohamed EL MIELY.)

Arab Educational, Cultural, Scientific Organisation (ALECSO) (Tunis City, Tunisia) established in 1964; General Manager, Mohamed EL MIELY.

Arab Labour Organisation (ALO) (Cairo, Egypt) established in 1965; General Manager, Ibrahim KWAIDER.

Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) (Khartoum, Sudan) established in 1970; Director General, Yahia BAKKOR.

Arab Organisation for Administrative Development (Cairo, Egypt) established in 1961; General Manager, Ahmed Saker ASHOUR.

Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organisation (AIDMO) (Rabat, Morocco) established in 1990, with the purpose of coordinating the Arab potential in the electrical and mining industry sectors, and encouraging cooperation in industrial development between Arab states;General Manager, Talaat Ben Zaffer EL ZAFFER.

Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) (Safat, Kuwait) established in 1968; Secretary General, Abdul Aziz A. AL-TURKI.

Arab Economic Unity Council (Cairo, Egypt) established in 1964; Secretary General, Hassan IBRAHIM.

Inter-Arab Investment Guarantees Corporation (Kuwait) established in 1966; General Manager, Ma’mon Ibrahim HASSAN.

Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) (Safat, Kuwait) established in 1968; General Manager and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Abdul Latif Y. AL-HAMAD.

Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) established 1975; Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jassim AL-MANNAI.

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) (Khartoum, Sudan) established in 1973; General Manager, Medhat Samy LOTFY.

Arab Agency for Agricultural Investments and Development (AAID) (Khartoum, Sudan) established in 1976; General Manager and Chairman of the Agency, Abd El Karim EL AMERY.

Arab Atomic Energy Agency (Tunis City, Tunisia) established in 1982; General Manager, Mahmmoud Fouad BARAKAT.

Arab Satelllite Communications Organisation (Arabsat) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) established in 1974; General Manager, Saad Bin Abdul Aziz EL BADNA.

Arab Centre for Dry Region and Arid Land Studies (ACSAD) (Damascus, Syria) established in 1968; General Manager, Hassan SAOUD.

Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) (Tunis City, Tunisia) established in 1955; General Manager, Abdul Haffix EL HERGAM.

Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (ACST) (Alexandria, Egypt) established in 1972; Chairman of the Academy, Gamal El Din MOKHTAR.