The Arab League announced an urgent meeting for Arab foreign ministers on May 15 at the headquarters of the League in Oman to choose a successor for current chief Amr Moussa, whose term ends that day. A discussion of the situations in Libya, Yemen and Syria has been ruled out after countries negotiating solutions for those crises objected. The deputy secretary general, Ahmed bin Hala, announced that the meeting would only discuss the appointment of the new secretary general. There are only two candidates for the position - Egyptian candidate Mostafa al-Fiqqi and Qatari candidate Abdel Rahman al-Attiya - as Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has announced that Iraq will not nominate anyone, bin Hala said in a statement on Thursday. Arab League sources said that many Arab countries suggested extending Moussa's term for three months or assigning bin Hala in place of Moussa for a couple of months until a new secretary general is chosen. This would be to allow time for the unrest in Arab countries to calm down so the issue can be discussed thoroughly.
