Diplomatic sources told Arabstoday that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has formally nominated former Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki to be ambassador to the state of the Vatican. The sources revealed that Mekki’s nomination documents included a letter of request, as well as his autobiography.  If the Vatican approves the nomination then Mekki will travel to the Vatican. The position of Egyptian ambassador to the Vatican has been unfilled since September 2012, when the tenure of Lamia Mokhaimer officially ended. The Vatican has previously rejected the nomination of Ambassador Ismail Khairat, the former Chairman of the State Information Service.