Samir al Shihabi (Arabic: سمير الشهابي; 27 May 1925 – 25 August 2010) served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1991 to 1992.
[5] He rose quickly to become Charge d'Affairs in Italy in 1959 and then served as Saudi Ambassador to Turkey from 1964 to 1973, Ambassador to Somalia for six months in 1974 and then assumed the post of Deputy Foreign Minister early in the tenure of Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal.
He carried out sensitive missions for King Faisal in support of Saudi efforts to limit Soviet influence in the region.
Shihabi had also entered the race very late in the game, months after three other candidates had already declared their intent to run, including the Foreign Minister of Yemen and also after the US and UK governments had publicly pledged their support for another candidate (a Foreign Minister of a British Commonwealth country).
[6] Their son, Ali Shihabi, is a former chairman of a bank and an author and Founder of the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC.