Arab League

Organization of Arab states established in Cairo, Egypt, in 1945 to promote Arab unity and collective security. The original members were Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Transjordan (Jordan from 1949), Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. They were later joined by Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. In 1979 Egypt was suspended and the League's headquarters transferred to Tunis in protest against the Egyptian–Israeli peace agreement. However, after Egypt had been readmitted as a full member in May 1989, the organization's headquarters returned to Cairo in March 1990. Libya left the League in October 2002. The secretary general (from 2001) is Amr Mohammed Musa, a former Egyptian foreign minister.