Najla Mangoush

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Najla El Mangoush
Najla Mangoush, Berlin.jpg
Mangoush in Berlin, June 2021
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
March 15, 2021
PresidentMohamed al-Menfi
Prime MinisterAbdul Hamid Dbeibeh
Preceded by (Al Bayda Cabinet)
Mohamed Taha Siala (Tripoli Cabinet)
Personal details
Born (1973-06-07) June 7, 1973 (age 48)
London, England, United Kingdom
Political partyIndependent
Alma materEastern Mennonite University
George Mason University

Najla Mohammed El Mangoush (Arabic: نجلاء محمد المنقوش; born 7 June 1973) is a Libyan diplomat and lawyer.[1] She has been Libya's Foreign Minister in Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh's government since 15 March 2021.[2] Najla El Mangoush is Libya's first female foreign minister,[3] as well as the fifth woman to hold the position of a foreign minister in the Arab World.

Early life[]

Mangoush was born in Cardiff, Wales, to a family of four children who originated from Libya, but she grew up in Benghazi, the city to which the family returned, when she was six years old.[4]

Education[]

Trained as a lawyer at Benghazi University (then Garyounis University) and was later an assistant professor of law at the university. Later on she gained a Fulbright Scholarship to the United States of America, where she graduated from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU university in Virginia.[1]

Mangoush meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in Bari, Italy on June 29, 2021.

Career[]

As a conflict-resolution expert, she was the country representative in Libya for USIP (United States Institute of Peace).[1]

She has served as the Program Officer for Peace-building and Traditional Law at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Arlington, Virginia.[1]

During Libya’s 2011 revolution, she headed the National Transitional Council’s (NTC) Public Engagement Unit which dealt with civil society organisations.[1]

Foreign minister[]

On 15 March 2021 she became a foreign minister in Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh's cabinet, which is a part of the government of national unity. She is the first female Foreign Minister of Libya and the fifth to hold such a position in the Arab World after Naha Mint Mouknass (2009 - 2011) and Vatma Vall Mint Soueina (2015) of Mauritania, Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam (2012 - 2014) of Somalia and Asma Mohamed Abdalla (2019 - 2020) of Sudan.[2]

On November 6, 2021, the Presidential Council suspended Mangoush on charges of carrying out foreign policy without coordination with the council. She was also barred from traveling.[5] Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh disputed[6][7] the right of the Presidential Council to suspend Mangoush, saying the power to appoint or suspend ministers in his government is his exclusive preserve.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Najla Mangoush – Libya's first female Foreign Minister". Libya Herald. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Najla Mangoush first female Libyan FM". alwasat.ly (in Arabic). 15 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Najla Mangoush – Libya's first female Foreign Minister". Libya Herald. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  4. ^ Rausch, Colette (2015). Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace. Berkeley, California: Roaring Forties Press. ISBN 978-1938901386.
  5. ^ Libya's Presidency Council suspends foreign minister, spokesperson says
  6. ^ Wintour, Patrick (7 November 2021). "Libya's PM and president in dispute over foreign minister's suspension". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Libya's Presidency Council suspends foreign minister, gov't rejects the decision". National Post. Toronto, Ontario. Reuters.
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