Veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Abul Gheit has been named as the Arab League’s new secretary general. Abul Gheit, who served as foreign minister under Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak, takes office at a time when the Cairo-based Arab League is facing several tests of its unity. At the top of the list is the war in Syria that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011. The more than five-year-old conflict has seen regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and

In addition, relations between Qatar and Egypt, which traditionally chooses candidates for the post of secretary general, have soured. Abul Gheit had accused the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza of being responsible for the Israeli assault.

The United Nations says that more than 6,000 people have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi campaign against the rebels was launched a year ago. The rise of the jihadist Islamic State group, which has swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria under its control and is rapidly expanding its foothold in Libya, has emerged as the biggest threat to the region’s stability.

Abul Gheit will be the eighth secretary general of the League since it was founded in 1945.