Abdel Rahman Shalgam (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: عبد الرحمن شلقم; born 22 January 1949) is a Libyan politician. He was

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

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 ...

from 2000 to 2009.

Early life

Shalgam was born in Sabha in southern Libya.

Career in politics

In 1973, he worked for DAWN newspaper. From 1984 to 1995, before being appointed foreign minister, Shalgam was Secretary (

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

) of Libya's People's Bureau (Libyan Embassy) to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy. From 1998 to 2000 he was

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

at the Secretariat of the General People's Congress of

. During Shalgham's tenure of office, a relative thaw in US-Libyan relations came about, with high-level contacts being maintained between Libya and the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. Shalgham was replaced as Foreign Minister by Moussa Koussa on 4 March 2009 and was instead appointed Libya's representative at the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, where Libya had a non-permanent seat until 31 December 2009. He remains Libya's ambassador to the UN as of early 2011.

Role in Libyan civil war

After the outbreak of the Libyan Civil War in February 2011, Shalgham initially sided with

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

, with whom he had been friends for many years. He continued to side with Gaddafi as late as 22 February. On that day, he confirmed that civilians had not been the target of bombing (contrary to initial reports), but demanded that the violence stop. "If one Libyan has been killed - not ten or 20 - but one," Shalgram said at a press conference held that day, "this is a crime." On 25 February, however, Shalgham denounced Gaddafi in an emotional speech before the

. Most of the UN's Libyan delegation had abandoned Gaddafi four days earlier. Shalgham initially "could not believe" Gaddafi was firing on his own people, but could no longer support his government after Gaddafi publicly called for the protests to be put down by force. Partly due to his lobbying, the Security Council passed Resolution 1970, which imposed harsh sanctions against Libya and referred the situation to the International Criminal Court. Shalgham applauded the resolution, saying it would "help put an end to this fascist regime, which is still in existence in Tripoli." On 5 March 2011, Shalgam was appointed emissary to the UN by the

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...

. Earlier that day, the Gadhafi-led government had notified the UN of its desire to replace Shalgam as the Libyan representative, appointing Ali Treki as its new envoy in his place.

References

External links

* * in 2010
Talking to media at UN headquarters
after giving a speech on the state of Libya's political upheaval * . In: Mission Staff, CV Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shalgham, Abdel Rahman 1949 births Living people Ministers of foreign affairs of Libya Permanent representatives of Libya to the United Nations Ambassadors of Libya to Italy 21st-century Libyan politicians 21st-century diplomats