She stood wearing a Saharan-style scarf with absolute elegance. She stood humbly with a dignified air in the middle of a long queue, among simple passengers who do not use the passageways leading to the “VIP political visitors and officials” halls. She was a lady speaking with a diplomatic Sahara tone coated with a poetic spirit that is far from the “frivolous” language of women. She did not show her diplomatic passport, and did not think of showing it until she reached the passport-control official in Cairo's International Airport. Many Arab people are not perhaps aware that in one of their 22 countries, there is an Arab woman assuming a high-ranking non-honorary post through which she practices a political role. She is Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Bint Mouknass, who assumes the same position of Hillary Clinton in the administration of American President Barack Obama and Condoleezza Rice in the administration of George W. Bush previously, with a difference in the nature of mission and duties. If this Arab lady belonged to a European or wealthy country, or if her country were rich in oil barrels and gas pipelines or coming from countries that excel in weaving conspiracies, Arab and international media would vastly write about her, her country, and political position. It might monitor her political moves and diplomatic efforts and learn more about her ideas and political opinions. If Bint Mouknass were from a dangerous country that violates international laws and detests peace, the world would view her with suspicion and doubt and monitor her moves cautiously and carefully. What prompted me to make this introduction is the piece of news published by Egyptian, then Arab and international media, and which was circulated by many electronic websites about Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Bint Mouknass. The media said that Mouknass overlooked the protocol and stood with absolute modesty and elegance among a queue of travelers at Cairo's Airport. She insisted not to leave when the passport-control officials tried to help her, and refused to be distinguished from other passengers. On the contrary, other Arab foreign ministers refuse anything less than absolute protocol and full security. According to the story of the Egyptian media, the passport-control officer at Cairo's Airport was surprised with a Mauritanian passenger submitting a diplomatic passport. When he tried to examine the passport, it turned out to be that of the Mauritanian foreign minister. When he tried to help her, she insisted on standing among the passengers travelling to Damascus on board of Egypt Air, refusing to enter the VIP visitors' hall. Rather, she handled the measures of her departure herself, without anyone's assistance. The minister's position is, beyond any doubt, in the Mauritanian Government's interest, and changed her image within the public opinion inside Mauritania and abroad, after her behavior was appreciated and pointed to her modesty and desire to serve her country primarily, aside from considering privileges and protocols. Hailing from a political family, Bint Mouknass not only has self-confidence, but also practical and political experience which she puts at her country's disposal, not to outbid and defy men, but to walk in parallel with them and add to their wisdom in being modest and even surpass them, in order to reform the country first and foremost. Bint Mouknass is considered the first female foreign minister in the Arab world. She was appointed in August 2009, and she is the daughter of a former foreign minister. She heads the Union for Democracy and Progress Party. She was elected after her father died, at the head of the party he and his companions founded in the 1990s. She had previously worked as a consultant in the Mauritanian Presidency, before she was discharged following the 3rd of August coup in 2005. At that time, she devoted herself to party work and managed to make it to the parliament along with a number of her party's members in 2006. Bint Mouknass is an educated woman, and has developed much expertise, as she was trained in French banks earlier, and received her basic, secondary, and higher education in Nouakchott, Dakar, and Paris. I looked for motivating articles to support and encourage Bint Mouknass after she assumed her political position in her country and throughout the Arab world, but I only found very few ones. This shows that there is no Arab enthusiasm about women's involvement in politics, and that the Arabs still are disdainful towards women in political positions, far from the comprehensive notion of partnership between the man and woman to serve their countries, rather than paralyze their movements and achievements. Certainly, Mauritanian [Foreign Minister] Bint Mouknass did great with her diplomatic position and modesty, but who will be the next Arab woman to do so amid the amplification of manhood meanings?
