The Arab League decided on Thursday to move forward to May 5 its Cairo foreign ministers meeting, which is expected to focus on choosing a successor to outgoing Secretary-General Amr Moussa, DPA reported.
Egypt nominated former parliamentarian Mostafa al-Fiqqi for the post of secretary-general, while Qatar nominated Abdulrahman al- Attiyah, former head of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Since 1945, all but one of the chiefs of the 22-member Arab League have been Egyptian.
The foreign ministers will also discuss setting a date for the annual Arab Summit, which was postponed indefinitely after it was originally slated to take place in Iraqi capital Baghdad in May.
The foreign ministers meeting was likely brought forward to allow the participants to attend the reconciliation ceremony between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, expected to take place in Cairo late next week, sources within the League said.
The change marks the second time the meeting has been brought forward from its original May 15 date.