Ashraf Abdel-Latif Ghorbal

Ashraf Ghorbal studied economics and political science in Cairo, entered the diplomatic service, and completed an MA and doctorate at Harvard in 1948 and 1949. In his later oral history, he described the American friendships formed during those years as useful when he returned to Washington as a diplomat. ¹

Ghorbal headed Egypt’s interests section in Washington from January 1968 to July 1972, working under the protection of India’s embassy while formal Egyptian-American relations were broken. He pressed for Israeli withdrawal and a political settlement, and questioned American arms supplies to Israel during talks with Joseph Sisco. Returning to Cairo, he became a deputy to the national security adviser and then President Anwar Sadat’s press adviser. ^{1, 2, 3}

After relations were restored, Ghorbal returned as ambassador and presented credentials in April 1974. His second Washington assignment lasted until 1984. He retired from Egypt’s diplomatic service the following year. ^{4, 5, 1}