Background
Mohamed Hafez GHANEM was born in 1925, at Cairo, Egypt.
Mohamed Hafez GHANEM was born in 1925, at Cairo, Egypt.
At Cairo he was graduated in law. He continued his studies in France, Holland and Austria for his doctorate in law.
His legal talents were first employed in government service as a member of Egypt’s delegation to the UN in 1955. He became head of the legal department of the Atomic Energy Committee in 1956. For the next few years he remained engrossed in international law and wrote a number of books. In 1968 he was brought into the cabinet as Minister of Tourism.
Having made his mark, he was promoted Minister of Education in 1969. Much of his time he spent seeking an expansion of the school building programme and an extension of secondary education throughout the country. After the death of Nasser on September 28, 1970, he became an increasingly close confidant of Sadat.
Although he was dropped from the cabinet when Aziz Sidki formed his government in January 1972 he remained in Sadat’s inner circle. He was appointed to the ASU Central Committee as secretary for economic affairs which kept him in close contact with the President. After his key role in the Libya-Egypt merger negotiations he was given the important task of ensuring that the Tripoli agreement was interpreted and implemented in Egypt’s best interests. On September 29, 1972, he was co-chairman at Tripoli of the opening session of the unity supervisory committee checking on the work of sub-committees on the merger. On March 27, 1973, he was brought into the limelight as secretary-general of the ASU.
From his position of secretary for economic affairs of the Arab Socialist Union he had a significant role in the negotiations for the merger agreement between Libya and Egypt signed at Tripoli on September 18, 1972.
As an authority on law and a former Minister of Education he was at the centre of ASU power he is the sort of person most likely to be a bridge-builder between the discontented students and the establishment. He symbolized a more dynamic approach to Arab Socialism Mter the conservative period of Sayed Marei as ASU secretary-general.