Maḥmūd Riyāḍ

Maḥmūd Riyāḍ (born January 8, 1917, Al-Qalyūbiyyah, Egypt—died January 25, 1992, Cairo) was an Egyptian diplomat who, as secretary-general of the Arab League (1972–79), was unable to prevent Egypt’s 1979 expulsion from the league after that country signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Riyāḍ studied at the Egyptian military academy and later received a doctorate in engineering. After serving in the Egyptian army during the first Arab-Israeli war (1948–49), he was a member of the mixed armistice committee. Following the 1952 coup that deposed King Farouk I, Riyāḍ joined the foreign ministry, where he served as head of the Palestine desk (1952–53), director of Arab affairs (1953–55), ambassador to Syria (1955–58), special adviser to Pres. Gamal Abdel Nasser (1958–62), and permanent ambassador to the United Nations (1962–64). As Egyptian Foreign Minister (1964–72) and deputy premier (1971–72), he urged a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict but also persuaded many countries to join in an international boycott of Israel to force concessions. In 1972 he was named to succeed ʿAbd al-Khāliq Hassūnah as secretary-general of the Arab League. Although he disagreed with Pres. Anwar el-Sādāt’s peace negotiations with Israel, Riyāḍ struggled to hold the league together. In 1979, after the other Arab states voted to expel Egypt from the league and move its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis, Tunisia, Riyāḍ resigned from public office but remained a respected government adviser.