Ahmed Aboul-Gheit will take office and start his role as the Arab League's eighth secretary-general on Friday, source said on Wednesday. The new secretary general will immediately begin meeting with senior officials at the Arab League Secretariat on Sunday. The Arab League's 22 member states elected the veteran Egyptian diplomat to head the body in March to replace the current Secretary-General Dr Nabil Elaraby. His term is due to last five years. Aboul-Gheit was the last foreign minister in the 30-year rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak – a job he kept for about seven years before the cabinet was forced to resign under pressure from angry demonstrators in the wake of the January Revolution of 2011.