Egypt's retired diplomat, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has been elected the new Arab League secretary general after a vote was delayed for hours due to reservations by Qatar.

The 22-member Cairo-based bloc announced in a statement on Thursday that it had voted unanimously in favor of 73-year-old Aboul Gheit, who served as Egypt's foreign minister during the final seven years of Hosni Mubarak's rule before leaving his post in the wake of the 2011 popular uprising.

Several Arab countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Libya, had earlier welcomed Aboul Gheit’s nomination.

Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah had announced his country’s support for the only contender for the post of Arab League's new chief.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have soured ever since Egypt's democratically-elected former president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted by the military in July 2013.

Doha has regularly denounced the Egyptian government’s heavy-handed crackdown on opposition and suppression of Morsi’s supporters. Cairo, in return, blames Doha for supporting Morsi's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement and stirring up unrest.

Qatar’s reservations against Aboul Gheit’s nomination also stemmed from accusations that he pushed former Egyptian regime to boycott a Qatari-proposed Arab summit back in 2009, which was aimed at discussions over Israel’s military onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip, diplomatic sources said.

Aboul Gheit replaces Nabil el-Araby, who said last month that he would not seek another term as Arab League secretary general after his current one ends on July 1.

Araby served as Egypt's foreign minister under a transitional government formed following Mubarak’s ouster in early 2011. He was appointed Arab League chief in March that year.

Aboul Gheit faces an uphill battle as the new Arab League secretary general with regard to the five-year-old war in Syria, militancy in Libya, a rising threat from Takfiri terrorists, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.