Nasser Al Qudwa, also spelled Nasser Al-Kidwa (born 1953) is a Palestinian politician. A long-time activist in Fatah, he represented the Palestinian Liberation Organization at the United Nations from 1991 to 2005, when he became the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority. Al Qudwa served in that role until 2006.

Early life and education

Al Qudwa was born in 1953. He attended Cairo University, graduating with a degree in dentistry in 1979. Then became an executive member of the Palestinian Red Crescent shortly after.

Career

Al Qudwa joined Fatah in 1969. He became president of the General Union of Palestinian Students in 1974. He is also a central-committee member of Fatah. Qudwa represented his uncle Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization as an unofficial observer in the United Nations in 1987, then as a permanent observer in 1991. In 2005, he was succeeded by Riyad H. Mansour, when he became Foreign Affairs Minister in the Palestinian Authority Government of February 2005. Nasser served as United Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Al Qudwa was appointed deputy to Kofi Annan, then special envoy to Syria for the U.N. and Arab League in March 2012. He was responsible for the contacts with Syrian opposition groups. In 2014, Al Qudwa resigned from his position as U.N. Deputy Mediator on Syria. On 21 March 2021, the Fatah Central Committee dismissed Al Qudwa from the party after he announced plans to run a separate list of candidates under the National Democratic Forum bloc in the 2021–22 Palestinian local elections. He also announced plans to back Marwan Barghouthi, serving life sentences in Israeli prison for murder, in the 2021 Palestinian presidential election, which was delayed indefinitely. Al Qudwa's announcement and subsequent dismissal represented fissures in Fatah, as Al Qudwa called for Fatah leaders to stand against PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Personal life

Al Qudwa is the nephew of Yasir Arafat. He is the head of the Yasser Arafat Foundation.