The 11th Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games

The Arab Games are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab World. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandria, Egypt. Intended to be held every four years since, political turmoil as well as financial...

took place in Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 from 11 – 26 November 2007. A total of 22 countries participated in 32 events. These games were the largest in the games' history; seven new events were introduced and 2000 more athletes participated than in previous years, making them 8000 Arab athletes. It was also the first time that some of the Arab football federations participated with their first teams.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony started with the Egyptian Singer Tamer Hosny

Tamer Hosny

Tamer Hosny is an Egyptian singer, actor, composer, director, producer and songwriter. Hosny first came to attention when he appeared on mix tapes with other Egyptian artists...

 singing a new song for Arab unity, and then the entrance of several Arab Leaders with Hosni Mubarak

Hosni Mubarak

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....

, including the Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

ese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...

, Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

i President Ali Abdullah Saleh

Ali Abdullah Saleh

Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen. He is the...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i President Jalal Talabani

Jalal Talabani

Jalal Talabani is the sixth and current President of Iraq, a leading Kurdish politician. He is the first non-Arab president of Iraq, although Abdul Kareem Qasim was half Kurdish....

, and the Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz. This was followed by the entrance of the 22 participating teams. The opening word was given to several Arab Sport Federation Chiefs, and the Secretary general of the Arab League

Arab League

The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...

, Amr Moussa

Amr Moussa

Amr Mohammed Moussa is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary-General of the Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab states, from 1 June 2001 until 1 June 2011. He is a candidate in the 2011 Egyptian presidential election....

, and ended with Egyptian President Mubarak's opening words.

The ceremony was divided into eight parts; it started with the Narration of the Abraham's Trip in the desert, and the founding of the Ka'aba, thus Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

, and Arab Unity under Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, and stressed on the power of Words in the Quran, and then it showed several dances showing the Arab Literature and Arts, then showed performances explaining the Arab's leadership in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, gardening and music. Throughout the performance, several Arab scientists, poets, philosophers, mathematicians and travellers were mentioned as well as several verses of the Quran, and how it helped Arabs to achieve such glorious achievements. The Ceremony was wrapped up with the Egyptian National Anthem then an Arab Song called "Amgad Ya Arab" (Glories o Arabs).

Sports

Camel riding  Chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

Medal table

1		148	100	89	337
2		63	33	49	145
3		30	43	51	124
4		21	32	36	89
5		15	23	45	83
6		14	13	13	40
7		8	19	18	45
8		8	10	21	39
9		8	9	8	25
10		6	14	29	49
11	Libya	6	10	14	30
12		6	9	8	23
13		6	5	10	21
14		6	5	9	20
15		5	1	2	8
16	Iraq	4	23	33	60
17		1	4	7	12
18		0	0	3	3
19		0	0	0	0
19		0	0	0	0
19		0	0	0	0
19		0	0	0	0
Total

Participation

By Alphabetical Order

Country	Players	Games
	443	23
	236	14
	63	9
	15	3
	1,268	32
Iraq	482	28
	383	28
	412	26
	153	20
Libya	338	19
	17	4
	230	27
	53	8
Palestinian territories	56	4
	406	26
	472	25
	13	3
	142	14
	273	19
	329	18
	293	17
	140	14

External links

• Official website