Ashour Ben Khayal (), sometimes romanised Ben Hayal, (born September 1939) is a

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n diplomat and politician who was born in the

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

n city of Derna in September 1939. He was named Foreign Minister on 22 November 2011 by

Abdurrahim El-Keib Abdurrahim Abdulhafiz El-Keib, PhD, (; also transcribed ''Abdel Rahim AlKeeb,'' ''Abdul Raheem Al-Keeb,'' etc.; 2 March 1950 – 21 April 2020) was a Libyan politician, professor of electrical engineering, and entrepreneur who served as interim ...

in a surprise move, as the position was originally reported to be filled by Libya's deputy ambassador to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Ibrahim Dabbashi Ibrahim Omar Dabbashi (, born 25 February 1950) is a Libyan diplomat who formerly served as the Libyan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. With the advent of the Libyan Civil War, Dabbashi led the country's UN mission in ...

. He was described as little-known prior to his appointment.

Biography

Ben Khayal was previously the first secretary at the Libyan embassy in Rome in the late 1960s. Bin Khayal served as Libya's First Secretary and Adviser for the Libyan Mission to the United Nations, New York at the UN Security Council during Libya’s 1976-1977 membership term. During his term at the UN he also worked in the capacity of Deputy Delegate with Mansour Rashid El-Kikhia. He was also Libya’s ambassador to Korea but resigned in 1984 after a gunman fired from the Libyan embassy in London at a protest outside, killing police officer Yvonne Fletcher. After defecting, Bin Khayal joined the ranks of the Libyan National resistance and was later named the Deputy Secretary General of the National Libyan Alliance. In 2005, after the killing of Kikhia, he served as Chairman and later as president for the National Conference of the Libyan Opposition. During the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

, the Conference declared support for the National Transitional Council and allocated all possible resources towards the service of the nation.

External links

Libyan Foreign Ministry

Interim Government Official website (Executive Office)

References

Ministers of foreign affairs of Libya 21st-century diplomats Living people Members of the National Transitional Council Members of the Interim Government of Libya 1939 births University of Libya alumni People from Derna, Libya Libyan National Movement politicians Ambassadors of Libya to South Korea {{Libya-bio-stub