The presidency appointed on Wednesday two new spokespersons one week after presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali announced he would resign from his post. Ihab Fahmi and Omar Amer, both former diplomats, were appointed to speak on behalf of the President Mohamed Morsi. An alumnus of the faculty of economics and political sciences at Cairo University, Fahmi's career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began in 1992. He was a political advisor at Egypt's embassies in Rome, Paris and Algiers. He also occupied a number of other posts in the ministry such as the director of the Multilateral European Affairs, deputy head of the European Union and Western Europe Affairs and the office director of the minister's deputy for European Affairs. Amer is a graduate of the faculty of mass communication also at Cairo University. He was appointed as a political advisor at Egypt's embassies in Washington, Vienna and Canberra in 1991. Amer, as well, worked within the ministry, taking up posts such as deputy head of the National Office for Egyptian-European Partnership, advisor at the minister's office and deputy director of the Disarmament and Prevention of Nuclear Proliferation Administration. Presidential spokesperson Ali quit his job at the presidency and was announced as the new head of the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) shortly after his resignation. The institution did not mention any reasons for the move nor did it clarify if the decision was made by Ali or President Mohamed Morsi. Ali has acted as the presidential spokesperson since Morsi assumed the presidency in June 2012 after working as the general coordinator of Morsi's presidential campaign. Additional reporting by Ethar Chalaby
