ALGIERS- Algeria was elected Saturday, at the League of Arab States headquarters in Cairo, as first deputy speaker of the Arab Parliament (AP), represented by Senator Fouad Sebouta, the Council of the Nation (upper house of Parliament), said in a statement.

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The Arab Parliament held a meeting to renew its different bodies and bureau, made up of four deputy speakers and four chairmen of permanent commissions.

Algeria has been elected first deputy speaker of the Arab Parliament, represented by Fouad Sebouta, a member of the Council of the Nation, with a total of 58 votes," the statement said.

Algeria was elected at a procedural session held at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo to elect a new speaker for the Arab Parliament, from two candidates representing the parliaments of Libya and the United Arab Emirates.

Mohamed Ahmed Al Yamahi, a member of the Federal National Council (FNC) of the United Arab Emirates, has been elected speaker of the Arab Parliament, taking over from Adel Abdulrahman Al Asoomi, member of the Consultative Council of Bahrain.

Algeria's election as first deputy speaker of the Arab Parliament is a "new opportunity for Algerian Parliament's contribution to the activation of joint parliamentary action mechanisms, while putting forward Algeria's position over major Arab issues, on the top of which the legitimate Palestinian cause."

The joint delegation of the two houses of parliament includes Abdelkrim Korichi, a member of the Council of the Nation and chairman of the Committee on Foreign and political Affairs and National Security at the Arab Parliament, Mohamed Khouane, the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the People's National Assembly (lower house of Parliament), and Youcef Rahmania, a lower house deputy.

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