Samit S. Shihabi of Saudi Arabia Elected President of Forty-fixth General Assembly

Portrait of Samir S. Shihabi of Saudi Arabia, newly elected President of the 46th session of the General Assembly. Mr. Shihabi has served as his country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1983.
Mr. Shihabi joined the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry in 1949. He served as First Secretary in Berne, Switzerland, from 1956 to 1959, and as Charge d'affaires in Rome from 1959 to 1961. In 1961, Mr. Shihabi was appointed Director of the Foreign Ministry's United Nations and International Organizations Department. Three years later, he was appointed Saudi Arabia's first Ambassador to Turkey, where he served until 1973. That was followed by an assignment as Ambassador to Somalia. He was then transferred to Jeddah, where, from 1974 to 1979, he served as Senior Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Acting Deputy Foreign Minister. Since 1974, he has taken part in 15 delegations to the General Assembly. In 1980, Mr. Shihabi was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan. He held that position or three and a half years, until assuming his post as Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. [No exact date]