Hosni Mubarak

President of Egypt

• Born: May 4, 1928
• Birthplace: Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt
• Died: February 25, 2020
• Deathplace: Cairo, Egypt

Childhood & Military Career

Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt on October 14, 1981. During his thirty years in power, Mubarak wielded significant influence in the Arab world. However, his government was largely financed by foreign aid from the United States, and he was regularly criticized in the Middle East as being a proxy for US interests, especially for his often-moderate stance on the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition, Mubarak was criticized for maintaining what was essentially an authoritarian regime where political dissidence was not tolerated. This criticism came to a head in February 2011, when massive public demonstrations led to his resignation.

A war hero, President Mubarak managed to keep Egypt at relative peace with Israel and its other neighbors in the Middle East during his tenure, despite a history of war in the region. He had less success enacting domestic economic and political reforms within Egypt.

Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak was born May 4, 1928, in the village of Kafr-El Meselha, in the governorate (province) of Al-Menoufiyah, which is in Egypt's Nile River delta area. His father was a Ministry of Justice inspector.

After graduating from high school, Mubarak attended the national military academy in Cairo. He earned a bachelor's degree in military sciences in 1949. He went on to train to become a pilot at the Egyptian Air Force Academy in Bilbays. Graduating at the top of his class, he earned a bachelor's degree in aviation sciences in 1950.

The mid-twentieth century was a turbulent time in Egypt. In 1952, a military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk. In 1954, Nasser was able to negotiate the removal of eighty thousand British troops from the area of the Suez Canal, marking the end of seventy-two years of British military occupation of Egyptian territory.

Mubarak flew for the air force in Egypt's newly empowered military, and served as a flight instructor from 1952 to 1959. His rise through the ranks of the military in the early 1960s included assignments as head of a military delegation to the Soviet Union, and the command of several Egyptian air bases, including Western Air Force Base in Cairo.

He served as director of the Air Force Academy from 1968 to 1969, and then as Air Force chief of staff from 1969 until 1972. During this time (1967–70) Egypt was embroiled in the War of Attrition with Israel over territories in the Sinai Peninsula along the Suez Canal. After President Nassar died of a heart attack in 1970, Mubarak would come under the command of President Anwar Sadat, who in 1972 appointed him commander of the Air Force and deputy minister for military affairs.

Mubarak's greatest military claim to fame came in 1973 when he commanded a successful air raid during the October War, also known as the Yom-Kippur War. The raid was a surprise attack against Israeli forces in the Sinai region. Egypt lost only eleven planes out of 230 during its initial strike, a much smaller number than forecast in light of the superior technology of the Israeli forces. Although eventually stalemated by the Israelis, Sadat declared the war a victory and promoted Mubarak to the rank of air marshal.

Political Ascent

Mubarak moved from the military to politics in 1975 when he accepted an appointment as vice president of Egypt. In 1978, he also became the vice-chairman of Egypt's National Democratic Party (NDP).

The historic Camp David peace accord between President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, negotiated under the auspices of US president Jimmy Carter, also took place in 1978. The agreement was not popular with Islamic fundamentalists opposed to Israel. In October 1981, a group of extremists assassinated Sadat during a military parade. Although Mubarak was sitting near the president at the time, he escaped injury. The ruling NDP and the Egyptian parliament called on Mubarak to succeed Sadat, and he ran unopposed in the ensuing special election. He became president of Egypt on October 14, 1981.

Mubarak defied the terrorists by continuing the moderate, largely secular, political strategies forged by Sadat. He was able to take advantage of Sadat's negotiations with Israel to win the return of occupied territories. His continued acceptance of the Camp David accords also earned Egypt foreign aid from the United States, including military assistance to replace prior commitments from the then-collapsing Soviet Union (Mubarak kept open ties with Russia). However, military actions by Israel against Lebanon in June 1982 damaged support among moderate Egyptians for the Camp David peace process. The heightened tensions remained until Israel began to withdraw its troops in 1985.

Wild fluctuations in the price of oil during the 1980s eventually hurt Egypt's developing economy, as prices plummeted in 1986. Following Israel, Egypt is traditionally the largest beneficiary of US aid (Iraq is the largest beneficiary as of 2004). Egypt received about $2 billion per year from the United States in foreign aid, for a total of about $50 billion from 1975 through 2003.

Mubarak was reelected to the presidency in 1987, 1993, and 1999, but these elections were not seen as confirmation of his popularity among the Egyptian people. Under Mubarak, Egypt was not a democracy in the same sense as Western nations. The government had tight control over the press and the electoral process. Opposition parties had to be approved by the Mubarak regime and the most serious threats to Mubarak's power, mostly fundamentalist Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, did not gain approval as legal parties. Because of all this, Mubarak ran largely unopposed in his reelection bids.

Mubarak backed the United States and United Nations (UN) in the 1991 war against Iraq (the Persian Gulf War), and he worked through the UN and the Arab League to generate support for the war among other Arab nations. Nearly forty thousand Egyptian troops were part of the coalition forces brought to bear against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait.

Mubarak also supported the peace talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that took place in Norway in 1993. He pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move ahead with an agreement that became known as the Oslo Accords. This agreement set the stage for the historic handshake between PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that took place at the signing in Washington, DC, under the administration of US president Bill Clinton.

A second agreement, Oslo II, was signed in 1995 under witness of Mubarak, Clinton and King Hussein of Jordan. However, the Middle East peace process was again derailed by terrorism when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated later that same year.

Egypt & Terrorism

Mubarak aggressively moved to eliminate Islamic terrorist cells in Egypt during the first half of the 1990s. After a failed assassination attempt against him in 1995 was tied to both Egyptian militants and Sudanese backing, he further restricted domestic fundamentalist political opposition and censored criticism of his administration in the Egyptian press.

Some outside observers suggest that the restrictions and the resulting lack of public dialog between secular moderates and religious fundamentalists ultimately strengthened extremist elements. Mubarak's hard line did eventually reduce violence in Egypt, but many ousted Islamic Jihad members joined with al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide. One of the leaders of the September 11, 2001 suicide attacks against the United States was Egyptian Mohamed Atta. Four of the other terrorists are also thought to have been Egyptian, and many al-Qaeda leaders at that time had ties to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

As Mubarak continued juggling the interests of the United States and the Arab world at the beginning of the twenty-first century, his leadership faced renewed challenges. Following the 9/11 attacks, Mubarak urged caution in retaliation in Afghanistan and spoke out against the US push for war against Iraq. Unemployment in 2003 reached 25 percent. Foreign investment in Egypt, while never seriously encouraged by Mubarak, dropped to a twenty-year low.

In addition, Mubarak's support for US policy remained under attack by opposition groups, which painted the Egyptian president as a puppet of the United States. Regional tensions between Arab states, Israel, and the Palestinians remained very high in 2004 as the lingering occupation of Iraq by US forces gave critics additional ammunition to use in denouncing the United States as being "anti-Arab."

Responding to criticism in 2004, and perhaps in order to better his appearance on human rights prior to an April meeting with US president George W. Bush, Mubarak released many political prisoners and eased press restrictions. He was reelected to another term as president in 2005, in an election process that was widely criticized as corrupt.

In June 2008, Mubarak helped to negotiate a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas, although the agreement was not adhered to by either side.

On January 25, 2011, a series of street demonstrations, marches and protests against Mubarak's regime began occurring in Egypt. The vast majority of the demonstrators were Egyptian youth frustrated with the lack of employment opportunities, government corruption, and thirty years of emergency rule under Mubarak. In response to the protests, the Egyptian government deployed legions of police with riot shields, imposed a curfew, and shut down access to the Internet nationwide. Cellphone service was also temporarily shut down.

Mubarak, believed to be ill, made no public comments or appearances during the initial days of the protests. He made a nationally televised speech on January 29, 2011, stating that he would ask his cabinet to resign. Mubarak also appointed longtime aide and chief intelligence officer Omar Suleiman as vice president. However, Mubarak's speech and shuffling of government appointments did little to quell protests in major Egyptian cities, including Cairo and Alexandria. Incidents of violence between demonstrators and police were widely reported. In addition to reports of looting, fires, and destruction of public property, an estimated 125 people were killed during the unrest. US president Barack Obama and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton stated their support for improvements in the implementation of democracy in Egypt, a longtime US ally in the Middle East.

On February 1, 2011, Mubarak announced that he would not seek reelection as president of Egypt. However, he stated that he would remain in power until the end of his term in September. He alleged that the week-long protests had been co-opted by political forces seeking to take down Egypt’s government. Mubarak’s announcement was met with disdain by large numbers of protestors who continued to demand his ouster. In the hours that followed his second nationally televised address, an increase in violence was reported between Mubarak supporters and anti-Mubarak demonstrators.

On February 10, 2011, it was reported that Egyptian army officials were preparing for Mubarak to announce his resignation. The report led to a near celebratory atmosphere amid the thousands of demonstrators that remained active in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere. However, in a speech given that evening, Mubarak reiterated that he was not stepping down but transferring power to Vice President Suleiman. President Obama reacted critically to the speech, which only served to further galvanize the country's protest movement and increase tensions throughout the country.

In a speech given on the evening of February 11, 2011, Vice President Suleiman announced that Mubarak was stepping down and transferring power to Egypt's Military High Council. The announcement was reported worldwide as an historic moment of catharsis for Egyptians, who reacted jubilantly to the news. Massive celebratory crowds gathered in Cairo following the announcement. As the military suspended parliament and worked through the process of replacing his regime, Mubarak flew to the city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea.

Mubarak and his wife, Suzanne Thabet, had two sons, Alaa and Gamal. In mid-April 2011, both Alaa and Gamal were detained by Egyptian authorities for questioning over embezzlement charges, abuse of power, and violence against individuals involved in the revolution. Mubarak was also detained, despite being hospitalized for heart trouble in Sharm el-Sheikh.

On May 25, 2011, the office of Egypt’s prosecutor-general announced that Mubarak would stand trial on charges related to the shooting deaths of hundreds of demonstrators that occurred in early 2011. The announcement also stated that Mubarak and his sons would stand trial on charges that they enriched themselves illegally while in power. By June of the following year, a court had ruled that Mubarak, as an accessory to murder for his failure to halt the killings, would serve a lifetime prison sentence. The corruption charges against Mubarak and his sons were dismissed according to the statute of limitations. Despite this verdict, protesters took to the streets once more, believing that other officials more directly responsible were not held accountable and that the conviction would most likely be overturned on appeal.

Indeed, by January 2013, an appeals court had overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial, and by November 2014, Mubarak and his former interior prime minister had been cleared of the murder charge by a Cairo court due to lack of jurisdiction. Because he was simultaneously serving a sentence for a prior embezzlement conviction, it was unclear at the time when Mubarak would be released. At the trial's conclusion, he maintained his innocence.

Mubarak was released from detention on March 24, 2017. He spent his final years in the affluent Cairo neighborhood of Heliopolis. On February 25, 2020, he died after undergoing surgery at a Cairo hospital. He was ninety-one years old. He was survived by his wife and two sons.

Bibliography

Amin, Galal. Egypt in the Era of Hosni Mubarak. Amer. U in Cairo, 2011.

Arafat, Alaa Al-Din. Hosni Mubarak and the Future of Democracy in Egypt. Palgrave, 2011.

“Egypt’s Former President Hosni Mubarak Dies at 91.” Aljazeera, 26 Feb. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/egypt-president-hosni-mubarak-dies-91-200225105344417.html. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.

Kirkpatrick, David D., and Merna Thomas. “Egyptian Judges Drop All Charges against Mubarak.” The New York Times, 29 Nov. 2014. Accessed 5 Jan. 2015.

Salama, Amir H. Y. “Whose Face to Be Saved? Mubarak’s or Egypt’s?" Pragmatics & Society vol. 5, no. 1, 2014, pp. 128–46.

Slackman, Michael. “Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian Leader Ousted in Arab Spring, Dies at 91.” The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/world/africa/hosni-mubarak-dead.html. Accessed 1 Apr. 2020.