Topic: Shukri Ghanem

Shukri Mohammed Ghanem (Arabic: شكرى محمد غانم‎) (born October 9, 1942) is the former General Secretary of the People's Committee in Libya (prime minister). He held this position from his appointment by Muammar al-Gaddafi in June 2003 until March 2006 when, in the first major government re-shuffle in over a decade, he was reported to have been sacked. His deputy, Baghdadi Mahmudi, took over as prime minister.

With advanced degrees in International Economics and Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Ghanem was previously in charge of the OPEC secretariat, and was the Director of its Research Division. He served as Deputy Director and Director of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy in Libya; was Director of Marketing of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC); was Director of Economic Affairs and Under Secretary and Chief Advisor at the Ministry of Petroleum in Libya. In March 2006, Ghanem was appointed Chairman of Libya's NOC. He tendered his resignation from NOC in August 2009 amidst probable disagreements within the Libyan government over the development of the oil sector.

Libya had been diplomatically isolated and subject to international sanctions since the November 1991 indictment of two Libyans for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988 (the Lockerbie bombing). Following Ghanem's appointment as prime minister, Libya successfully sought re-entry into the international community and the lifting of sanctions. Ghanem was seen as the main spokesman and architect of this rapprochement, which included paying $2.16 billion compensation in August 2003 to the families of the 270 people who died in the bombing, and renouncing weapons of mass destruction.