Arab Ambassador to Participate in Baylor Sponsored Conference

WACO, Texas -- The chief representative of the Arab League to the United States will visit the Baylor University campus from April 15-18 to take part in the Southwest Model Arab League Conference. A press conference for Ambassador Khalid Abdalla will be held at 3 p.m. on April 17 in the Barfield Drawing Room at the Bill Daniel Student Center on the Baylor campus. Also attending the press conference will be Tarik Allagany of the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Abdalla began working for the Arab League in 1980 and has served as director of the League's Mission in Vienna, Austria, and as deputy assistant secretary general of the League's Palestinian Affairs. In 1994, Abdalla moved to Washinton, D.C., and assumed his present position. He holds a doctorate in economics from Warsaw's Central School of Planning and Statistics in Poland.
The Model Arab League Conference, hosted by Baylor, simulates a meeting of the League of Arab States in Cairo, Egypt. With 250 participants from 18 universities, the conference is the largest Model Arab League in the nation.
Simulation sessions will begin at 9 a.m. on April 16 and will continue through April 17. During the sessions, participants will debate issues concerning economic, cultural, political and security affairs. An award ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. April 18 in the Barfield Drawing Room at the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Additionally, the conference will host "Arabian Nights on the Brazos," an evening of traditional Middle Eastern music with the renowned Trans Arabian South band. The event will begin at 8 p.m. at the Waco Suspension Bridge and is free and open to the public.
"We hope participants will come away from the conference with a better understanding of the process of international relations, international law and Middle East cultural understanding," said Matthew Wright, a Baylor senior and secretary general for the Southwest Model Arab League conference.