Mustafa Khalil

Who was Mustafa Khalil?

Mustafa Khalil was an Egyptian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from October 2, 1978 to May 15, 1980. Khalil also served as the Egyptian foreign minister from 1979 until 1980. Khalil was best known for helping to negotiate the 1979 Camp David Accord peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. He was born in the Al Qalyubiyah Governorate.

Mustafa Khalil accompanied Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on his historic first visit to Jerusalem, Israel, in November 1977 to meet with the Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin. Khalil was the secretary general of the Arab Socialist Union at the time. The visit by Sadat and Khalil paved the way for negotitaions by United States President Jimmy Carter, which ultuimatey led to the Camp David Accords. Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who served as the deputy prime minister for foreign affairs, and also travelled with Khalil and Sadat to Israel in 1977, has talked about the important role in while Khalil played in the peace negotiations, "Khalil contributed in serving the country for over 50 years and took part in making peace and building the basis of development...We continued negotiations together that ended in the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty that launched the peace process in the region."