Another week, another foreign minister. What will be his priorities, asks Doaa El-Bey Mohamed Kamel Amr, the third foreign minister since the 25 January Revolution, began his new job this week by meeting senior officials at the ministry. He expressed optimism about the future of Egypt and a strong belief that Egypt is heading towards establishing a strong and modern state during the meeting. Amr told diplomats that the revolution had improved Egypt's image on the regional and international levels, confirming his full support to it. He also condemned recent terrorist acts in the Norwegian capital Oslo, stressing that Egypt denounced all forms of violence targeting civilians. Following his appointment, Amr stressed that he would work to enhance Egypt's pivotal role in the Arab world. "Egypt is at the heart of the Arab world. What happens in Egypt affects other countries. If Egypt moves forward, the Arab world moves forward," Amr told the official Middle East News Agency. Senior diplomat Safwat Ayoub welcomed Amr's appointment, pointing out that he is in an excellent position to boost Egypt ties with the Gulf having previously served as Egypt's ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "He also worked for the World Bank for over a decade before returning to Egypt just over a year ago. That job gave him experience in international economics which is likely to prove invaluable to Egypt in its current phase," said Ayoub. In the 1990s Amr served as a counsellor at the Egyptian embassy in Washington before being chosen to represent Egypt in Saudi Arabia. Later, Amr was made Egypt's permanent representative at the World Bank. Amr has avoided any mention of how he intends to deal with pressing files, including relations with Iran and with African states, particularly Nile Basin countries. Nabil El-Arabi, the first foreign minister following the revolution, began his own appointment by declaring Egypt should normalise relations with Iran. Nor has Amr given any indication whether or not he will continue with El-Arabi's "popular diplomacy" when it comes to Africa. A popular delegation's visit to Uganda in April, and to Ethiopia in May, helped ease the tension between Egypt and other Nile Basin states and persuade both Ethiopia and Uganda to postpone ratification of the Nile Basin agreement until after the election of a new Egyptian parliament and president. El-Arabi left the Foreign Ministry just weeks after he was appointed to take up the job of Arab League secretary-general. Amr takes over from Mohamed El-Orabi -- El-Arabi's successor -- who kept the job for less than a month. He resigned when Prime Minister Essam Sharaf came under growing pressure to rid his government of figures associated with the previous regime. El-Orabi was Egypt's ambassador to Germany when ousted president Hosni Mubarak was having medical treatment there. Subsequently El-Orabi's post in Germany was extended to six years, a move some regard as evidence of El-Orabi receiving preferential treatment from the former president. Amr has been abroad so long that his name cannot be directly associated with Mubarak. That has not, however, prevented some activists from complaining that like his predecessor, El-Orabi has been too involved in the Mubarak government to make a clean break with the past. "New ministerial appointees should be given time to be judged according to what they do," said one diplomat. "The simple fact is that anyone likely to be appointed to the post must have diplomatic experience. Inevitably that will have been gained when Mubarak was president." Amr, along with 15 new members of the cabinet, including two new deputy premiers, was sworn in last week in front of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council that took power when Mubarak was ousted in February.
