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Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak
// Egyptian President
Vlast weekly and Ekho Moskvy radio station continue their Authorities project. This time, we will look at Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the most flexible leader in the Arab world.
Hosni Mubarak, 77, was elected Egyptian President for the fifth time in September 2005. The overwhelming majority of Egyptians, 88 percent, cast their ballots for him, according to official statistics.
Russia’s Ambassador to Egypt Mikhail Bagdanov gives an explanation for the Egyptian leader’s secret of political longevity. “President Mubarak is wise, very moderate and well-versed in domestic and foreign issues as well as in military affairs. He is a good public speaker. Arab leaders normally have good abilities of public speaking, especially at rallies. But Mubarak is able not only get the message through clearly but he can also speak the language of the people. He comes from a remote place. He was born in a peasant family that is why the people loves and respects him.”
Military Pilot
Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928, in a small village of Kafr El-Meselha. His father owned a small plot of land and also worked in a legal department of the province. Hosni made a lot of friends among kids of Egyptian peasants, fellahs. They went to school together which was situated a mile and a half away from the village. His teachers recollect that Hosni differed from his peers by his diligence and perseverance. His father dreamt that the son could go on to study in Cairo University to become a teacher. But Hosni Mubarak was more attracted to a military career. He decided to join the Egyptian Military Academy, one of the top universities in Egypt.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Military Sciences and the rank of lieutenant, Hosni Mubarak entered the Air Force Academy where only top graduates of the Egyptian Military Academy were admitted. Hosni was the best in his year. As his fellow students recollect, he had never drunk alcohol or smoked. Instead, he was into sports, had a keen interest in politics and preferred to spend all his energy on studying. Hosni Mubarak was an ideal military man. “He was a role model of a disciplined man, and his leadership qualities were so apparent that he was elected aide to the chief of the staff at the academy in his first year. Soon after this, he was assigned to the fighter squadrons in Helwan, and then moved up to the bombers forces. Time of his training flights was much higher than that of other students,” Mubarak’s fellow student in the Air Force Academy said.
Aged 31, Hosni Mubarak became a base commander. To develop skills in flying Il-28 bombers he was sent to the USSR for training. He went to the Soviet Union for the second time in 1964 to receive the training of piloting Tu-16 heavy bombers. Mubarak’s biographers note that he learnt quite good Russian during his time in the USSR. “He can still speak Russian. During talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, he sometimes could do without an interpreter,” Ambassador Mikhail Bogdanov says.
After Israel crushed the Egyptian army in 1967, destroying almost the whole air force of the country, Hosni Mubarak was appointed to head a military college in Bilbeis. He has a goal to increase the output of pilots and cut the training time from four to two years. As a legend has it, Mubarak used to spend days and nights in the college undertaking the reform of the air school. His work did not pass unnoticed. In 1969, Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser appointed him Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force. Nasser was Hosni Mubarak’s idol, and Mubarak named his son in the honor of the former president.
In 1972, Mubarak worked as Deputy Defense Minister in charge of reorganizing the Egyptian Air Force. The Yom Kippur War showed substantial progress in the development of the Egyptian Air Force, making Hosni Mubarak a national hero. Egypt’s new President Anwar Sadat promoted him to the rank of Air Chief Marshal and presented him the Star of Sinai, the highest military decoration in Egypt.
Mr. Integrity
In 1975, Anwar Sadat appointed him Vice-President. Sadat gave the following explanation for this choice: “I’ve made him my deputy not because he was a pilot or air force commander. I’ve chosen him because he is a true Egyptian. He is an Egyptian warrior in his steadfastness, strength and experience. He has risked his life, scorning death to protect us.” Yet, the true cause of Mubarak’s political promotion probably lay in his apolitical views. Anwar Sadat’s wife, Jihan, accounted his husband’s choice for Mubarak’s lack of personal ambitions and undivided loyalty.
There is another reason why Sadat made Mubarak the second person in the country. The president wanted to secure the support of the army. Mubarak was a real hero in the early 1970s. He was a fighting commander with an impeccable reputation, incorruptible and averse to any idols. It was then that he received the nickname of Mr. Integrity.
Assuming the vice-presidency, the meticulous Hosni Mubarak did everything he could to master the new profession of a politician. He became Sadat’s shadow as he appeared with him in official meetings, interviews or abroad trips.
As time went by, Sadat started entrusting important missions to his deputy. In the late 1970s, Mubarak received extraordinary powers to settle the conflict in Southern Sahara. By 1980 Mubarak, had gained control over the intelligence and police. In January 1981, he headed the ruling National Democratic Party.
Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak happened to be ten centimeters away from death on October 6, 1981, when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated at a military parade. One week after, Hosni Mubarak became President of Egypt.
Introducing a state of emergency was one of Mubarak’s first steps in power. Emergency Law has been used in Egypt since then. Sadat’s murderers were tracked down and executed. The new president has become known as a man with cautious and pragmatic mind. Intelligence services have infiltrated into all parts of life in Egypt.
Drawing on the lamentable experience of his successor, Hosni Mubarak tries not to make radical moves in domestic or foreign policies. In his first years in office he got all extremist organization moving to the underworld, including the Muslim Brotherhood which is still not legalized as a political party but act as a nonprofit organization. At the same time, he set free 4,000 Islamic activists who were put into prison under Sadat. Seeing that the Egyptians are tired of corruption in Sadat’s entourage, the new president took the former president’s brother and sons into court.
Hosni Mubarak is employing similar tactics in foreign policy, adhering to the course of positive neutrality in relations with the United States. Mubarak is heavily dependent on America’s multimillion aid. In his speeches he expresses support or at least refrains from criticizing American policy in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. However, people’s demonstrations in support of brother Muslims often make him throw this weight behind the Arabs as it happened this summer after Israel’s military operation in Lebanon when he had to condemn the Israeli aggression. Mubarak adamantly turned down America’s help in constructing a military base at the Red Sea. He said Egypt would build the base on its own and keep control over it.
The restoration of diplomatic ties with Arab nations in 1987 which were disrupted after Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel was Mubarak’s another victory in foreign policy. Relations with the USSR were normalized in 1984.
Western diplomats note, though, that at talks, Hosni Mubarak still looks a straightforward military man who gives orders and expects obedience. “He finds it hard to contain himself when other people contend his opinions. On the one hand, he tries to produce an impression that he is a person devoted to Western values. On the other hand, he is no democrat at all in real life and unwilling to bear any opposition,” says Natan Shcheransky who served as Israel’s industry and trade and interior minister. “But he would never have kept the power in Egypt for so long if he was unable to foresee impending threats and eliminate them. He is imperious and shrewd at the same time.”
Mother Suzanne
The name of Suzanne Mubarak, the president’s wife, is heard in the Arab world nearly as often as the name of Mubarak himself. One sometimes gets an impression that Hosni and Suzanne are political rivals. Shortly before the 2005 presidential election, opposition newspapers were covering a scandal in the Mubarak family. The conflict came down to the presidential post. Suzanne thought that their son Gamal should become Egyptian President in 2005. Mubarak reportedly answered to this in the following way: “Egypt is the people’s republic, and there are no grounds for handing power by succession. And there never will.”
It is hard to say why Suzanne Mubarak was desperately defending her cause. Her own political ambitions may be the reason. She is often compared in the Arab world with Hillary Clinton. Like Hillary, Suzanne Mubarak heads maternity and childhood protection projects throughout the country and is involved in education and healthcare issues. She gives speeches on television on these topics, which gave her the nickname, Mother Suzanne.
She has big influence in Egypt and even takes part in shaping the government. When Hosni Mubarak fainted during a speech and had to spend a week in hospital, Suzanne virtually assumed the leadership in the country.
Mother Suzanne’s political and social efforts make one assume that she hopes to rise to power by securing the presidential post for her son, Gamal who is strongly influenced by her. However, the wish for Hosni Mubarak to step down and hand powers to the son could be explained by a wife’s care about the husband and the family’s future. Poor health will hardly make it possible for the 78-year-old Hosni Mubarak to head the country up to 2011 as in the meantime people of his entourage could seize the power.
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Quoting Hosni Mubarak
On the peace settlement in the Middle East: “Those who are interested in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict must understand that there is no alternative for peace. The desire of the peoples for sustainable peace must be respected and peace is an ideal strategic choice for everyone. Peace, however, must become a strategic choice not only for the Arabs but for Israel as well.”
On Egypt’s part in settling the Arab-Israeli conflict. “73 million Egyptians need development, services, work and housing. Those who are asking for war will make us lose all of that in a blink. I have no right to spend the people’s budget on a war. Which isn’t their war, no begin with.”
On Russian President Vladimir Putin “I believe President Putin is a very good and intelligent leader. Russian needs Putin. He is very familiar with the situation in Russia and internationally. He is aware of everything. Let him stay.”
On the role of the United Nations in settling conflicts: “The UN Security Council failed to take quick and efficient steps to quench the Israeli aggression [against Lebanon] and did not meet its obligations on protecting peace and security. The inability to act is demonstrates a crisis in the whole international security system which is to be ensured by the UN.”
On a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq: “This will be a disaster. Iraq will become an arena of all-out war, and it will multiply terrorist attacks not only in Iraq but also in other places.”
Quoted as Speaking about Hosni Mubarak
Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Russia respects you as a recognized leader of Egypt and the Arab world with great competence, solid principles and persistence. You champion the supremacy of international law and strict adherence to basic principles of the modern world.”
U.S. President George W. Bush: “I value the friendship with President Mubarak. I always appreciate our candid conversations. And I want to thank the President for his steadfast support in our war against terror. Egypt has been a good friend, and I’m grateful for that.”
The Pope of the Orthodox Coptic Church Shenouda III of Alexandria: “President Hosni Mubarak has political wisdom, tolerance, wide experience of ruling the country and good relations with all political leaders of the Arab East and Western countries.
Nargiz Asadova
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 13, 2006
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