Look up Egyptian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Egyptian may refer to:

• Of or pertaining to Egypt, a country in northeastern Africa
  • A citizen of Egypt. See Demographics of Egypt.
  • Egyptians, an ethnic group in North Africa
  • Egyptian Arabic, the language spoken in Egypt. See also Languages of Egypt.
  • Egyptian culture, culture of the nation
  • Egyptian cuisine
• Of or pertaining to ancient Egyptian civilization, from circa 3200 BC to 343 BC
  • Ancient Egyptian cuisine
  • Egyptian language, spoken until the seventeenth century
• Egyptians (Balkans), an unrelated Albanian-speaking ethnic minority of Kosovo and Macedonia
• of or pertaining to the region of Southern Illinois known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt"
• The Egyptian, a 1945 historical novel by Mika Waltari
• The Egyptian (film), a 1954 film by Michael Curtiz, based on Waltari's novel
• Slab serif letter forms in typography
  • Egyptian (typeface)

People[link]

• Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, popularly known as "The Egyptian"
• Egyptian Healy (1866–1899), pitcher for Major League Baseball in the 19th century
• Egyptian Lover (born 1963), American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ
• Famous Egyptian

See also[link]

• Egypt (disambiguation)
• Egyptians (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Jonathan Richman
Live at the Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, Michigan (2005)
Background information
Born	(1951-05-16) May 16, 1951 (age 61) Natick, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Rock, New wave, proto-punk, singer-songwriter
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitarist, vocalist, saxophonist
Years active	1970 – present
Labels	Beserkley Records
Associated acts	The Modern Lovers

Jonathan Michael Richman^[1] (born May 16, 1951)^[2] is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing. He is known for his wide-eyed,^[3] unaffected and child-like outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, often draws on influences from around the world.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Born in Natick, Massachusetts, Richman began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. He became infatuated with The Velvet Underground, and in 1969 he moved to New York City, lived on the couch of their manager, Steve Sesnick, worked odd jobs and tried to break in as a professional musician. Failing at this, he returned to Boston.

The Modern Lovers[link]

While in Boston, Richman formed The Modern Lovers, a proto-punk garage rock band. Other notable members of the group were keyboard player Jerry Harrison and drummer David Robinson, who later joined Talking Heads and The Cars, respectively.^[2] Many of the group's songs feature Boston-based topics.

In 1972 they recorded a series of demos with producer John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground). Among these songs were the seminal "Roadrunner" and "Pablo Picasso" which were eventually released on the group's post-breakup album, The Modern Lovers (August, 1976).^[2] The album was unique for its time, featuring Velvets-influenced basic three-chord rock ("Roadrunner" — based on just two chords — is an homage to "Sister Ray") at a time when glam and progressive rock were the norm.

Later in 1972, the group also recorded with producer Kim Fowley; these demos were eventually released in 1981 as The Original Modern Lovers. Despite playing live regularly, the Modern Lovers had a difficult time securing a recording contract. By late 1973, Richman wanted to scrap the recorded tracks and start again with a mellower, more lyrical sound, influenced by the laid-back local music he had heard when the band had a residency at the Inverurie Hotel in Bermuda earlier in the year. This stymied efforts to complete a debut album, and led to the breakup of the original Modern Lovers in February 1974.

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers[link]

In 1975, Richman moved to California to record as a solo singer/songwriter with Beserkley Records. His first released recordings appeared on 1975's Beserkley Chartbusters compilation, where he was backed by members of Earth Quake and the Rubinoos; these four songs also appeared on singles on the independent Beserkley label.

In January 1976, Richman put together a new version of the Modern Lovers, which included original Modern Lovers drummer, David Robinson, along with former Rubinoos bassist, Greg 'Curly' Keranen and Leroy Radcliffe, on guitar. The albums produced by the new group found Richman turning away from electric rock music towards gentler acoustic textures, with a strong rooting in 1950s rock and roll (Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA" was part of his repertoire).

The album Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers was released in May, 1976 (three months before the earlier The Modern Lovers sessions were finally released) but David Robinson left the group soon thereafter, due to frustration with Richman's quest for lower volume levels, and joined with Ric Ocasek in forming the band The Cars.

After several months as a trio, Richman found a new drummer, D. Sharpe (aka David) - an accomplished avant garde jazz player on the Boston scene, who later went on to become a member of pianist Carla Bley's band.

Drawing inspiration from such artists as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Paul Motian and Anthony Braxton, D. Sharpe replaced the traditional rock and roll drum kit with an eclectic assortment of percussion instruments, including a large African three-legged drum covered in zebra skin; a 1947 De Soto automobile hub-cap (cum snare drum); a rack full of various pot lids and bells hanging on strings; exotic cymbals with many tonal 'imperfections'; frequent use of mallets instead of drumsticks, and brushes with which he would sometimes simply 'play the air' (i.e., without hitting anything else), as could be felt more than heard^{[citation needed]}, especially in live performances, of the song "Afternoon".^[4]

Rock and Roll with the Modern Lovers was released in 1977 and, just as this record began to climb the charts in Europe, Keranen left the group (to attend college). A subsequent live album, Modern Lovers Live, was released in 1978, featuring Asa Brebner on bass.^[2]

In the United Kingdom, Richman was recognised as a progenitor of the punk rock scene, and several of his singles became hits. "Roadrunner" reached Number 11 in the UK Singles Chart, and its follow-up, the instrumental "Egyptian Reggae", made Number 5 in late 1977.^[5] "Egyptian Reggae" was a version of Jamaican musician Earl Zero's reggae song "None Shall Escape the Judgment"; Zero was credited as co-writer on Richman's later versions of the track.^[6][7]

Back in Your Life was released in 1979 under the "Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers" moniker, but only about half the disc featured a backup band. The rest was solo work.

Solo[link]

Richman in Tokyo, Japan, performing live (September 17, 2006)

Following the Modern Lovers' final breakup, Richman went on sabbatical for a few years staying in Appleton, Maine, and playing at local bars in Belfast, Maine including the famous Belfast Cafe' and the equally well known diner and rough and ready bar next door to the cafe' called Barb's Place. While in Maine; Jonathan took his unique solo shows straight to bemused and unknowing audiences and became a local favorite. His years in Belfast, Appleton, and the great State of Maine, love, the bugs, the weather, and the water and trees of Maine show up often and regularly in his recordings and performances.

He returned to recording in 1983 with Jonathan Sings!, followed by Rockin' and Romance (produced by Andy Paley and engineered by Daniel Levitin). These were followed up with a brace of pop efforts (It's Time for Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and Modern Lovers 88 from 1986 and 1988 respectively). After the latter release, the "Modern Lovers" moniker was finally retired, and having begun a true "solo" career, he returned to a variety of musical genres: country music with 1990's Jonathan Goes Country, and Spanish translations of his earlier work (as well as traditional Spanish language songs) with Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! (1993).^[2]

In 1993, he contributed the track "Hot Nights" to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Always possessing an ardent cult following, Richman has become better known in recent years thanks to a series of appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Another major profile boost was a key part in the Farrelly Brothers' 1998 film, There's Something About Mary, where he played half of a two-man Greek chorus that commented on the plot while performing in the framed action itself. He also appeared briefly in a bar scene in a previous Farrelly Brothers film, Kingpin. He also performed a song called "As We Walk to Fenway Park" for the 2005 Farrelly-directed comedy Fever Pitch.

Richman has continued his release schedule all along, with You Must Ask the Heart (1995), Surrender to Jonathan (1996), I'm So Confused (1998), Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001), and Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004). In 1998 a live album of Modern Lovers recordings from the early 1970s was released, Live at the Long Branch & More. There is also a DVD of a live performance, Take me to the Plaza (2002).

In live solo shows, he frequently tours with drummer Tommy Larkins, the other part of the two-man chorus mentioned above.

Personal life[link]

His first marriage was to Gail Clook of Vermont, in 1983. This ended in divorce sometime shortly before the release of Surrender to Jonathan (1996).

In 2003, Richman married Nicole Montalbano of Chico, California.^[8][9] She contributed backing vocals to the album Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004).

He has a daughter, Jenny Rae, from his first marriage.

Influence[link]

Richman's work with the first incarnation of Modern Lovers is a major influence on punk rock. One critic called him the "Godfather of Punk".^[10] Artists as diverse as the Sex Pistols and Joan Jett have covered "Roadrunner". Boston ska-punk band, Big D and the Kids Table, have covered "New England" live and on their Gypsy Hill EP. A version of "Pablo Picasso" performed by Burning Sensations was included in the 1984 cult film, Repo Man. David Bowie covered "Pablo Picasso" on his album Reality. Velvet Underground founding member John Cale has a version of the song on his 1975 album, Helen of Troy, and continues to include the song in his live shows. Iggy Pop has performed "Pablo Picasso" live and wrote an extra verse for it. Echo and the Bunnymen covered "She Cracked" in concert in 1984 and 1985 and Siouxsie and the Banshees have a version of the song on Downside Up.

Richman's music has set the tone for many alternative rock bands, such as Violent Femmes, Galaxie 500, They Might Be Giants ("Roadrunner" reportedly inspired John Flansburgh to become a musician), Weezer, Tullycraft, Jens Lekman, singer Frank Black (who composed the tribute song "The Man Who Was Too Loud"), Brandon Flowers, Art Brut, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady & Lifter Puller and Nerf Herder who composed a song about him, titled "Jonathan", which appeared on the band's second album How To Meet Girls. British country rock band The Rockingbirds released the single "Jonathan, Jonathan" in tribute to Richman in 1992.

As a producer himself, Richman and drummer Tommy Larkin produced Vic Chesnutt's final album Skitter on Take-Off in 2009 which appeared on Vapor Records. Chesnutt opened for Richman at concerts many times during his later years.

"Roadrunner" is on the soundtrack of School of Rock. In the commentary, director Richard Linklater mentions it is often called "the first punk song" and wanted to include it for that reason, along with all the other seminal rock songs in that film.

A tribute album, If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman, was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2001.

Discography[link]

Jonathan Richman, live at the Soft Rock Cafe, Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1983)

Studio albums[link]

• The Modern Lovers (1976)
• Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (1976)
• Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers (1977)
• Modern Lovers 'Live' (1977)
• Back in Your Life (1979)
• The Original Modern Lovers (1981)
• Jonathan Sings! (1983)
• Rockin' & Romance (1985)
• It's Time For (1986)
• Modern Lovers 88 (1988)
• Jonathan Richman (1989)
• Jonathan Goes Country (1990)
• Having a Party with Jonathan Richman (1991)
• I, Jonathan (1992)
• ¡Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! (1994)
• You Must Ask the Heart (1995)
• Surrender to Jonathan (1996)
• I'm So Confused (1998)
• Radio On/Stop And Shop With The Modern Lovers (2 on 1) (1998)
• Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001)
• Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004)
• Revolution Summer (2007)
• Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild (2008)
• ¿A qué venimos sino a caer? (2008)
• O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (2010)

Live albums[link]

• Live at the Longbranch Saloon (1992)
• Precise Modern Lovers Order (1994)
• Live at the Longbranch and More (1998)

(These three live albums are from the same three 1971-3 performances, but add and subtract a few different songs. The last two, combined, contain all the songs)^[2]

Compilations[link]

• Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1 (Compilation, four songs) (1975)
• "I'm Straight" and "Government Center", from the Modern Lovers' Kim Fowley-produced Beserkley sessions, first appeared on the Warner Bros. Records compilation Troublemakers (1980)
• "I Like Gumby"; On the Gumby compilation album - Jonathan Richman
• 1993, contributed "Hot Nights" (live) to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.
• Performs "Stop Your Sobbing" on the 2002 Kinks tribute album This Is Where I Belong.
• Action Packed: The Best Of Jonathan Richman (2002)
• "The Origin of Love" on Wig in a Box (2003)
• "Our Dog Is Getting Older Now" on the charity album Colours Are Brighter (October 2006)

Singles[link]

US issues except where stated

• "Roadrunner" / "It Will Stand" (United Artists UP36006, 1975)
• "Roadrunner" / ("Friday On My Mind" by Earth Quake) (Beserkley B-4701, 1976)
• "Roadrunner (Once)" / "Roadrunner (Twice)" (Beserkley BZZ 1, UK, 1976)
• "Roadrunner" / "Pablo Picasso" (Beserkley PA-205, 1976)
• "New England" / "Here Come The Martian Martians" (Beserkley B-5743, 1976)
• "Egyptian Reggae" / "Ice Cream Man" (Beserkley 6.12 217, 1977)
• "Egyptian Reggae" / "Rollercoaster By The Sea" (Beserkley BZZ 2, UK, 1977)
• "The Morning Of Our Lives (Live)" / "Roadrunner (Thrice) (Live)" (Beserkley BZZ 7, UK, 1977)
• "New England (Live)" / "Astral Plane (Live)" (Beserkley BZZ 14, UK, 1978)
• "Abdul and Cleopatra" / "Astral Plane (Live)" (Beserkley 11813, 1978)
• "Abdul and Cleopatra" / "Oh Carol" (Beserkley BZZ 19, UK, 1978)
• "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" / "Abdul and Cleopatra" (Beserkley 6.12 311, 1978)
• "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" / "Hospital (Live)" (BZZ 25, UK, 1978)
• "My Little Kookenhaken" / "Roadrunner (Thrice) (Live)" (Beserkley 11819, 1978)
• "South American Folk Song (Live)" / "Ice Cream Man (Live)" (1978)
• "Lydia" / "Important In Your Life" (BZZ 28, UK, 1979)
• "That Summer Feeling" / "This Kind Of Music" (1984)
• "That Summer Feeling" / "This Kind Of Music" / "Tag Game" (Rough Trade RTT 152, UK, 1984)
• "I'm Just Beginning To Live" / "Circle I" (1985)
• "I'm Just Beginning To Live" / "Circle I" / "Shirin and Fahrad" (Rough Trade RTT 154, UK, 1985)
• "California Desert Party" / "When Harpo Played His Harp" (DRD 1D474, Spain, 1988)
• "Egyptian Reggae" / "Roadrunner" (1989)^[2]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Tim Mitchell, There's Something About Jonathan, London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7206-1076-1

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jonathan Richman

The Egyptian Lover
Background information
Birth name	Greg Broussard
Born	(1963-08-31) August 31, 1963 (age 48)
Genres	Old school hip hop West Coast hip hop
Occupations	Producer
Instruments	vocals, synthesizer
Years active	1983 - present
Labels	Egyptian Empire Records

Greg Broussard (born August 31, 1963 in Los Angeles, California), better known by his stage name Egyptian Lover, is an American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ, and was an important part of the L.A. dance music and rap scene in the early 1980s.

History[link]

The Egyptian Lover started out as a D.J. in Los Angeles with Uncle Jam's Army D.J.ing dances as large as the L.A. Sports Arena with 10,000 people. He began recording around Los Angeles in 1982 as a member of the Radio Crew, and also Uncle Jam's Army. In the early days of hip hop, albums were rare, so most of The Egyptian Lover's successful recordings were 12" singles. He would eventually release some of the earliest rap LPs, which was especially unique for being west-coast based, but they were less popular than his singles. But on the strength of containing an alternate mix of his most popular single "Egypt, Egypt", 1984's On the Nile was moderately successful. After a break in the early 1990s, Egyptian Lover returned in 1994 (see 1994 in music) with Back from the Tomb. His last full-length album in over ten years. In 2006 The Egyptian Lover recorded another new album "Platinum Pyramids".

The Egyptian Lover also established his own record company, Egyptian Empire Records, which included artists such as Rodney O & Joe Cooley.

Presently[link]

In 2005 "The Egyptian Lover" released his first single since 1994, entitled "Party" and backed with "Dancefloor", followed by the album Platinum Pyramids in Feb. 2006. By the end of 2006 The Egyptian Lover went into the studio with Jamie Jupiter and recorded "UFO" and "Futuristic" for Jupiter's new 12" single (never released).

In 2007, The Egyptian Lover re-made "Modernaire" by Dez Dickerson (from the film Purple Rain) for the label, Citinite.

In 2007, The Egyptian Lover collaborated with the groups "Clone Machine" and "Egypt Ear Werk" (with Luke Eargoggle)

In 2008, The Egyptian Lover continues to tour the world and is making a brand new album for 2008.

December, 2008 Exclusive songs on iTunes. Electro Pharaoh, Freaky D.J. and Scandinavian Summer.

2008 The Egyptian Lover records with Who Cares on the song "They Killed the Radio"

In 2008 Egyptian Lover works with Jamie Jones making the song "Galactic Space Bar"

2008 Egyptian Lover and M.I.A. create the track "Rock off Shake off" for new Artist Rye Rye.

May 2009 The Egyptian Lover collabs with Debonaire on "Do U Wanna Get Down?" for a new Street Sounds Compulation.

May 2009 The Egyptian Lover makes new Video "Freaky D.J." with Producer Director Victor Brooks aka Who007

2009 The Egyptian Lover makes a brand new album that included songs, Electro Pharaoh, U.F.O., Freaky D.J., BellyDance, Scandinavian Summer, Do U Wanna Get Down?.

June 2009 The Egyptian Lover's remix of James Pants' Cosmic Rapp is released.

2011 The Egyptian Lover is working on a new Album entitled "1984"

Touring[link]

The Egyptian Lover is currently touring worldwide. He began touring again in 2004 and is still doing European, Asian and North American shows. In 2008, he toured in support of M.I.A.. In the tradition of his origins as a D.J. his performances often begin with him mixing records on turntables and then Segueing into his original compositions. He is currently doing Arenas, Clubs, and Festivals.

Discography[link]

Albums

• 1983: On the Nile
• 1986: One Track Mind
• 1988: Filthy
• 1989: King of Ecstasy
• 1994: Back from the Tomb
• 1996: Pyramix
• 1998: Get Into It
• 2006: Platinum Pyramids

EPs

• 1983: Egypt, Egypt EP
• 2009: "Electro Pharaoh"

External links[link]

• Westcoastpioneers Biography page
• Egyptian Lover discography at Discogs
• Egyptian Lover on Myspace

Hosni Mubarak حسنى مبارك‎
Mubarak in 2009
4th President of Egypt
In office 14 October 1981 – 11 February 2011
Prime Minister	Himself Ahmad Fuad Mohieddin Kamal Hassan Ali Ali Lutfi Mahmud Atef Sedki Kamal Ganzouri Atef Ebeid Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Shafik
Vice President	None (1981–2011)[a] Omar Suleiman (2011)
Preceded by	Anwar El Sadat Sufi Abu Taleb (Acting)
Succeeded by	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi[b]
Prime Minister of Egypt
In office 7 October 1981 – 2 January 1982
President	Sufi Abu Taleb (Acting) Himself
Preceded by	Anwar El Sadat
Succeeded by	Ahmad Fuad Mohieddin
15th Vice President of Egypt
In office 16 April 1975 – 14 October 1981
President	Anwar El Sadat
Preceded by	Hussein el-Shafei
Succeeded by	None (1981–2011)[a] Omar Suleiman (2011)
Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office 16 July 2009[1] – 11 February 2011
Preceded by	Raúl Castro
Succeeded by	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi
Commander of the Egyptian Air Force
In office 23 April 1972 – 16 April 1975
President	Anwar El Sadat
Preceded by	Ali Mustafa Baghdady
Succeeded by	Mahmoud Shaker
Director of the Egyptian Air Academy
In office 1967–1969
Preceded by	Yahia Saleh Al-Aidaros
Succeeded by	Mahmoud Shaker
Personal details
Born	Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak (1928-05-04) 4 May 1928 (age 84) Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt
Political party	National Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Suzanne Mubarak (1959–present)
Children	Alaa Mubarak Gamal Mubarak
Alma mater	Egyptian Military Academy Egyptian Air Academy Frunze Military Academy
Religion	Sunni Islam
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Egypt
Service/branch	Egyptian Air Force
Years of service	1950–1975
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands	Cairo West Air Base Beni Suef Air Base Egyptian Air Academy Egyptian Air Force
a. ^ Office vacant from 14 October 1981 to 29 January 2011 b. ^ as Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (Arabic: محمد حسني السيد مبارك‎, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmːæd ˈħosni ˈsæjjed moˈbɑːɾˤɑk], Muḥammad Ḥusnī Sayyid Mubārak; born 4 May 1928^[2]) is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

Mubarak was appointed Vice President of Egypt in 1975, and assumed the presidency on 14 October 1981, following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. His almost thirty-year presidency made him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha.^[3] Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force, serving as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rising to the rank of air chief marshal.

Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution^[4] when, on 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.^[5][6] On 13 April, a prosecutor^[which?] ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.^[7] He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution.^[8] These trials officially began on 3 August 2011.^[9] Egypt’s military prosecutors then also proclaimed that they are investigating Mubarak's role in the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat.^[10][11]

Early life and Air Force career[link]

Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928,^[2] in Kafr El-Meselha, Monufia Governorate, Egypt. He is married to Suzanne Mubarak, and has two sons: Alaa, and Gamal.

Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Military Sciences in 1949.^{[citation needed]} On 2 February 1949, Mubarak left the Military Academy and joined the Air Force Academy, gaining his commission as a pilot officer on 13 March 1950^[12] and eventually receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Sciences.

As an Egyptian Air Force officer, Mubarak served in various formations and units, including two years when he served in a Spitfire fighter squadron.^[12] Some time in the 1950s, he returned to the Air Force Academy, this time as an instructor, remaining there until early 1959.^[12] From February 1959 to June 1961, Mubarak undertook further training in the Soviet Union, attending a Soviet pilot training school in Moscow and another at Kant Air Base, near Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan (then a Soviet republic), an airfield that is today home to the Russian 5th Air Army's 999th Air Base.

Mubarak undertook training on the Ilyushin Il-28 and Tupolev Tu-16 jet bomber, and then joined the Frunze Military Academy in 1964. On his return to Egypt, Mubarak served in wing and then base commander appointments, taking up command of the Cairo West Air Base in October 1966 before briefly commanding the Beni Suef Air Base.^[12] In November 1967, Mubarak became the Air Force Academy's commander when he was credited with doubling the number of pilots and navigators in the Air Force during the pre-October War years.^[13] Two years later he became Chief of Staff for the Egyptian Air Force.

Mubarak became Commander of the Air Force and Egyptian Deputy Minister of Defence in 1972. In the following year his military career reached its pinnacle when he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in recognition of service during the October War of 1973.^[12][14] Mubarak has been credited in some publications for Egypt's initial strong performance in the 1973 war against Israel.^[15] The Egyptian analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal gave a different evaluation of the role of the Air Force in 1973 from that of Mubarak and his supporters. Heikal argued that the Air Force played a mostly psychological role in the war, providing an inspirational sight for the Egyptian ground troops that carried out the crossing of Suez Canal, rather than for any military necessity.^[16] The role of Mubarak was further disputed by Shahdan El-Shazli the daughter of the former Egyptian military Chief of Staff Saad el-Shazly. She alleged that Mubarak altered the representation of a number of events pertaining to the 1973 war to show a magnified role for himself. In an interview with the Egyptian independent newspaper Almasry Alyoum (26 Feb 2011), El-Shazli claimed that Mubarak altered documents to take credit for the initial success of the Egyptian forces in 1973 from her father. She alleged that even photographs pertaining to the discussions in the military command room were altered, so that the pictures of Saad El-Shazli were erased and replaced by Mubarak. She stated she intends to take legal action.^[17]

Vice President of Egypt[link]

In April 1975, Mubarak was appointed by Sadat as Vice President of Egypt. In this position, he loyally served Sadat's policies. He took part in government consultations that dealt with the future disengagement of forces agreement with Israel.^[18]

As part of his support for Sadat's policies, he went in early September 1975 on a mission to Riyadh, and Damascus to convince the Saudi Arabian, and Syrian governments to accept the disengagement agreement signed with the Israeli government ("Sinai II"), but was refused a meeting by the Syrian President, Hafez Al-Assad.^[19][20]

In addition, Mubarak was sent by Sadat to numerous meetings with foreign leaders.^[21] Mubarak's political significance as Vice-President can be seen from the fact that at a conversation held on 23 June 1975 between Foreign Minister Fahmy and US Ambassador Hermann Eilts, Fahmy said to Eilts that "Mobarek [sic] is, for the time being at least, likely to be a regular participant in all sensitive meetings" and he advised the Ambassador not to antagonize Mubarak, as he was Sadat's personal choice.^[22]

President of Egypt[link]

During the assassination of President Sadat in October 1981 by soldiers led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli, Mubarak was one of the injured. Following Sadat's death, Mubarak became the fourth president of Egypt, and the chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP). He was the longest serving Egyptian president, his term lasting 29 years.

Egypt's return to the Arab League[link]

Mubarak in Berlin in 1989

Until Libya's suspension from the Arab League at the beginning of the 2011 Libyan civil war, Egypt was the only state in the history of the organisation to have had its membership suspended, due to President Sadat's peace treaty with Israel. However, in 1989, eight years after Sadat's assassination, Egypt was re-admitted as a full member, and the League's headquarters were relocated to their original location in Cairo.^[23]

Gulf War of 1991[link]

Egypt was a member of the allied coalition in the 1991 Gulf War, and Egyptian infantry were some of the first to land in Saudi Arabia to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Egypt's involvement in the coalition was deemed by the US government as crucial in garnering wider Arab support for the liberation of Kuwait.

In addition to further solidifying Egypt's central role in the Arab World, the participation of Egyptian forces brought financial benefits for the Egyptian government. Reports that sums as large as $500,000 per soldier were paid or debt forgiven were published in the news media. According to The Economist:

"The programme worked like a charm: a textbook case, says the IMF. In fact, luck was on Hosni Mubarak's side; when the US was hunting for a military alliance to force Iraq out of Kuwait, Egypt's president joined without hesitation. After the war, his reward was that America, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and Europe forgave Egypt around $14 billion of debt."^[24]

Assassination attempts and governing style[link]

According to the BBC, Mubarak has survived six assassination attempts.^[23] In June 1995 there was an alleged assassination attempt involving noxious gases and Egyptian Islamic Jihad while he was in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organization of African Unity.^[25] Upon return Mubarak is said to have authorized bombings on Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, which by 1999 saw 20,000 persons placed in detention related to the revolutionary Islamic organizations.^{[citation needed]} He was also reportedly injured by a knife-wielding assailant in Port Said in September 1999.^[26]

In his early years in power, Mubarak greatly expanded the Egyptian State Security Investigations Service (Mabahith Amn ad-Dawla) and Central Security Forces (anti-riot and containment forces).^[27] According to author Tarek Osman, the experience of seeing his predecessor assassinated "right in front of him" and his much longer military career than Presidents Nasser or Sadat may have instilled in him more focus and absorption with security than seemed the case with either of those heads of the Egyptian state. Mubarak sought advice and confidence not in "leading ministers," "senior advisors" or "leading intellectuals", but from his security chiefs—various "interior ministers, army commanders, and the heads of the ultra-influential intelligence services."^[28]

Stance on the invasion of Iraq in 2003[link]

U.S. President George W. Bush and Mubarak, 2002

President Mubarak spoke out against the 2003 Iraq War, arguing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should have been resolved first. He also claimed that the war would cause "100 Bin Ladens."^[29] However, as President he did not support an immediate US pull out from Iraq as he believed it would lead to probable chaos.^[30]

Changing economic scene[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

In July 2004, Mubarak accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and most of the cabinet.^{[citation needed]} He then appointed Ahmed Nazif as the new Prime Minister. The new cabinet was generally viewed with optimism. Economic conditions were starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation. The new cabinet headed by Ahmed Nazif had some success in overcoming the grim economic situation. The Egyptian stock market had the greatest percentage increase of all emerging markets for the fiscal year 2004/2005. However, unemployment persisted and Mubarak came under criticism for favoring big business and privatization as opposed to workers' rights. All this was a consequence of the wide use of privatization policy, by selling shares in most public sector companies, but it was widely believed that this reserve of previously nationalized capitals would end soon, leaving Nazif's government broke.

2005 elections[link]

This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (October 2010)

With the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, in 2003

With the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, in 2008

With the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, in 2009

Hosni Mubarak welcomes (left to right) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on 14 September 2010.

President Mubarak has been re-elected by majority votes in a referendum for successive terms on four occasions: in 1987, 1993, and 1999. The referendum in itself and its results are of questionable validity^[who?]. No one could run against the President due to a restriction in the Egyptian constitution in which the People's Assembly played the main role in electing the President of the Republic.

After increased domestic and international pressure for democratic reform in Egypt, Mubarak asked the parliament on 26 February 2005 to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections by September 2005^{[citation needed]}. Previously^[when?], Mubarak secured his position by having himself nominated by parliament, then confirmed without opposition in a referendum.

The September 2005 ballot was, therefore, a multiple candidate election rather than a referendum, but the electoral institutions, and security apparatus remain under the control of the President. The official state media, including the three government newspapers and state television also express views identical to the official line taken by Mubarak. In the last few years however, the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has been somewhat successful in turning things around. According to the List of countries by Human Development Index Egypt ranks 111th out of 177 countries, and rates 0.702 on the index.

On 28 July 2005, Mubarak announced his candidacy, as he had been widely expected to do. The election which was scheduled for 7 September 2005 involved mass rigging activities, according to civil organizations that observed the elections.^[31] Reports^{[citation needed]} have shown that Mubarak's party used government vehicles to take public employees to vote for him. Votes were bought for Mubarak in poor suburbs and rural areas. It was also reported that thousands of illegal votes were allowed for Mubarak from citizens who were not registered to vote. On 8 September 2005, Ayman Nour, a dissident and candidate for the El-Ghad Party ("Tomorrow party"), contested the election results, and demanded a repeat of the election.

In a move widely seen as political persecution, Nour was convicted of forgery and sentenced to five years at hard labor on 24 December 2005.^[32] On the day of Nour's guilty verdict and sentencing, the White House Press Secretary released the following statement denouncing the government's action:

"The United States is deeply troubled by the conviction today of Egyptian politician Ayman Nour by an Egyptian court. The conviction of Dr. Nour, the runner-up in Egypt's 2005 presidential elections, calls into question Egypt's commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law. We are also disturbed by reports that Mr. Nour's health has seriously declined due to the hunger strike on which he has embarked in protest of the conditions of his trial and detention. The United States calls upon the Egyptian government to act under the laws of Egypt in the spirit of its professed desire for increased political openness and dialogue within Egyptian society, and out of humanitarian concern, to release Mr. Nour from detention."^[33]

According to Reporters Without Borders; Egyptian media ranks 133 out of 168 in freedom of the press,^[34] showing an improvement of 10 places from 2005.

State corruption during Mubarak's presidency[link]

While in office, political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior rose dramatically, due to the increased power over the institutional system that is necessary to secure the prolonged presidency.^{[clarification needed]} Such corruption has led to the imprisonment of political figures and young activists without trials,^[35] illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities,^[36][37] and rejecting universities, mosques, newspapers staff members based on political inclination.^[38] On a personnel level,^{[clarification needed]} each individual officer is allowed to violate citizens' privacy in his area using unconditioned arrests due to the emergency law.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 Freedom House, a non-governmental organization that conducts research into democracy, reported that the Egyptian governments, under Mubarak expanded bureaucratic regulations, registration requirements, and other controls that feed corruption. Whenever Egyptians face such controls, money is what ultimately triggers the requisite signature or relevant approval. Compounding the normal bureaucratic culture is the state ownership of many or most of the primary economic levers – banking and financial institutions, tourism, oil, the Suez Canal, manufacturing, the media, and so on. Furthermore, government employees receive insufficient pay, while a decreasing minority of Egyptians achieve increasingly vast wealth, thus creating a growing income gap between the classes and causing the supposed middle class to be squeezed to the smallest minority between the rich and the poor. Freedom House claimed that "corruption remained a significant problem under Mubarak, who promised to do much, but in fact neither did anything significant to tackle it effectively."^[39]

In 2010, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts, with 10 being very clean and 0 being highly corrupt. Egypt ranked 98th out of the 178 countries included in the report.^[40]

Emergency law rule[link]

Egypt is a semi-presidential republic under Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958)^[41] and has been since 1967, except for an 18-month break in 1980s (which ended with the assassination of Anwar Sadat). Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship is legalized.^[42] The law sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity: street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations are formally banned. Some 17,000 people are detained under the law, and estimates of political prisoners run as high as 30,000.^[43] Under that "state of emergency", the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any period. The government continues the claim that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections, confiscate the group's main financiers' possessions, and detain group figureheads, actions which are virtually impossible without emergency law and judicial-system independence prevention.^[44] Pro-democracy advocates in Egypt argue that this goes against the principles of democracy, which include a citizen's right to a fair trial and their right to vote for whichever candidate and/or party they deem fit to run their country.^{[citation needed]}

Presidential succession[link]

Gamal Mubarak, son of Hosni Mubarak

In 2009, US Ambassador Margaret Scobey reported uncertainty regarding presidential succession, stating "Despite incessant whispered discussions, no one in Egypt has any certainty about who will eventually succeed Mubarak nor under what circumstances."^[45] She listed likely candidates, saying, "The most likely contender is presidential son Gamal Mubarak (whose profile was ever-increasing at the ruling party, until that party collapsed during The Egyptian Revolution of 2011); some suggest that intelligence chief Omar Suleiman might seek the office, or dark horse Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa might run. Mubarak's ideal of a strong but fair leader would seem to discount Gamal Mubarak to some degree, given Gamal's lack of military experience, and may explain Mubarak's hands off approach to the succession question."^[45] President Mubarak and his son denied this, "saying [that] a multi-candidate electoral system introduced in 2005 has made the political process more transparent."^[46] Nigerian Tribune journalist Abiodun Awolaja described a would-be succession by Gamal Mubarak as a "hereditary pseudo-monarchy".^[47] Ambassador Scobey summarised Mubarak's vision of the presidential succession, stating, "Indeed, he seems to be trusting to God and the ubiquitous military and civilian security services to ensure an orderly transition."^[45] The National Democratic Party of Egypt continued to state that Hosni Mubarak was to be the party's only candidate to the 2011 Presedential Elections. Mubarak declared on 1 February 2011 that he had no intention to run in the presidential race at the end of 2011. When this declaration failed to ease the protests, Mubarak's vice president stated that Gamal Mubarak, the son, will not run for president. With the escalation of the demonstration and the fall of Mubarak, a former influential figure in the National Democratic Party Hamdy El-Sayed, claimed that Gamal Mubarak intended to forcibly take over his father's position, assisted in that by the then Interior Minister, Habib El-Adly.^[48]

Israeli–Palestinian conflict[link]

As he has been involved intensely in the Arab League, he has supported Arab efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the region. The current position of the League is that which was endorsed at the Beirut Summit, on 28 March 2002. At the summit the league adopted the Arab Peace Initiative,^[49] a Saudi-inspired peace plan for the Arab–Israeli conflict. The initiative offered full normalization of the relations with Israel. In exchange, Israel was demanded to withdraw from all occupied territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. The Peace Initiative was again endorsed at 2007 in the Riyadh Summit. In July 2007, the Arab League sent a mission, consisting of the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, to Israel to promote the initiative.

1 September 2010. During Middle East negotiations, Mubarak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel look at their watches to see if it is officially sunset; during Ramadan, Muslims fast until sunset.

On 19 June 2008, the Egypt-brokered "lull" or pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas went into effect.^[50] The term "lull" is a translation of the Arabic term Tahdia.^[51] According to The New York Times, neither side fully respected the terms of the cease-fire.^[52]

The agreement required Hamas to end rocket attacks on Israel and to enforce the lull throughout Gaza. In exchange, Hamas expected the blockade to end, commerce in Gaza to resume, and truck shipments to be restored to 2005 levels, which was between 500 and 600 trucks per day.^[52][53] Israel tied easing of the blockade to a reduction in rocket fire and gradually re-opened supply lines and permitted around 90 daily truck shipments to enter Gaza, up from around 70 per day.^[54] Hamas criticized Israel for its continued blockade^[55] while Israel accused Hamas of continued weapons smuggling via tunnels to Egypt and pointed to continued rocket attacks.^[52]

However, when conflict again ensued during the Gaza War, Egypt's foreign minister stated that Hamas had brought it upon itself.

In 2009, Mubarak's government banned the Cairo Anti-war Conference, which has criticised his lack of action against Israel.^[56]

Revolution and resignation[link]

Massive protests centered on Cairo's Tahrir Square led to Mubarak's resignation in February 2011.

Mass protests against Mubarak and his regime erupted in Cairo and other Egyptian cities on 25 January 2011. On 1 February, Mubarak announced he would not contest the presidential election due in September. He also promised constitutional reform.^[57] This did not satisfy the majority of protesters as they expected Mubarak to depart immediately.^[58] The demonstrations continued and on 2 February, violent clashes occurred between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak protestors.^[59]

On 10 February, contrary to rumours,^[60] Mubarak asserted that he would not resign until the September election, though he would be delegating responsibilities to Vice President Omar Suleiman. The next day, Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned.^[5] The announcement sparked cheers, flag-waving, and celebrations from protesters in Egypt after Mubarak's announcement of resignation. Discussions began about the nation's future direction.^[61] It had been suggested that Egypt be put in the hands of a caretaker government.^[62] A few hours prior to the resignation announcement, reports surfaced suggesting the ousted president and his immediate family had left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh.

Protests[link]

On 25 January 2011, protests against Mubarak and his government erupted in Cairo and around Egypt calling for Mubarak's resignation.^[61] Mubarak stated in a speech that he would not leave, and would die on Egyptian soil. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei paid no attention to Mubarak's remarks^[61] and labeled it as a trick designed to help Mubarak to stay in power.^[62] In a state televised broadcast on 1 February 2011, Mubarak announced that he would not seek re-election in September but would like to finish his current term and promised constitutional reform. This compromise was not acceptable for the protestors and violent demonstrations occurred in front of the Presidential Palace. On 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak had resigned and that power would be turned over to the Egyptian military.

Remarks made[link]

Two and a half hours after Mubarak's resignation, an Egyptian military member came on air and thanked him for "putting the interests of the country first." The statement, which said "The Supreme Council is currently studying the situation," never provided what the council will do next.^[63]

Post-resignation[link]

Following his resignation, Mubarak did not make any media appearances. With the exception of family and a close circle of aides, he reportedly refused to talk to anyone, even his supporters. His health was speculated to be rapidly deteriorating with some reports even alleging him to be in a coma. Most sources claim that he is no longer interested in performing any duties and wants to "die in Sharm El-Sheikh."^[64][65]

On 28 February 2011, the General Prosecutor of Egypt issued an order prohibiting Mubarak and his family from leaving Egypt. It was reported that the former president was in contact with his lawyer in case of possible criminal charges against him.^[66] As a result, Mubarak and his family had been under house arrest at a presidential palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.^[67] On 13 April 2011, a prosecutor originally appointed by Mubarak ordered the former president and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power amidst growing suspicion that the Egyptian military was more aligned with the Mubaraks than with the revolution. Gamal and Alaa were jailed in Tora Prison, while state television reported that Mubarak was in police custody in a hospital near his residence following a heart attack.^[7] Former Israeli Cabinet minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer told Israeli Radio that he had offered Mubarak refuge in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.^[68]

Trial[link]

On 24 May 2011, Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and, if convicted, could face the death penalty. The decision to try Mubarak was made days before a scheduled protest in Tahrir Square. The full list of charges released by the public prosecutor was "intentional murder, attempted killing of some demonstrators...misuse of influence and deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits."^[8]

On 28 May, a Cairo administrative court found him guilty of damaging the national economy during the protests by shutting down the Internet and telephone services. He was fined LE200 million (about US$33.6 million), which the court ordered he must pay from his personal assets. This was the first court ruling against Mubarak, who will next have to answer to the murder charges.^[69][70]

The trial of Hosni Mubarak and his two sons Ala'a and Gamal, along with former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six former top police officials began on 3 August 2011 at a temporary criminal court at the Police Academy in north Cairo. The charges are corruption and the premediated killing of peaceful protestors during the mass movement to oust him, the latter of which carries the death penalty.^[71] The trial was broadcast on Egyptian television, with Mubarak making a surprise first appearance since his resignation, brought in on a hospital bed and held in a cage for the session. Upon reading out the charges to him, Mubarak pleaded not guilty, denying responsibility for the charges against him. Judge Ahmed Refaat adjourned the court, ruling that Mubarak be transferred under continued arrest to the military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo, with the second session scheduled for 15 August.^[72] On 15 August the trial was resumed. It lasted three hours, at the conclusion of which Judge Rifaat determined that the third session would take place on 5 September and that the remainder of the proceedings would be off-limits to television cameras.^[73]

The trial began again in December 2011 and lasted until January 2012. The defense strategy was that Mubarak never actually resigned, was still president, and thus had immunity.^[74] The judge said a verdict would be announced on 2 June 2012.^[75]

Health[link]

In the summer of 2010, the media speculated "Egypt is on the cusp of dramatic change", because Mubarak was thought to be afflicted by cancer, and because of the scheduled 2011 presidential election. While intelligence sources suggested that he suffered from esophageal cancer,^[76] stomach or pancreatic cancer, it was denied by Egyptian authorities.^[77][78] Speculation about his ill health flared up with his resignation on 11 February 2011.^[79] According to Egyptian media, Mubarak's condition worsened after he went into exile in Sharm el-Sheikh. Mubarak was reportedly depressed, refused to take medications, and was slipping in and out of consciousness. According to the source, an unnamed Egyptian security official, "Mubarak wants to be left alone and die in his homeland". The source also denied that Mubarak was writing his memoirs, stating that he was in a state of almost complete unconsciousness.^[80] After his February 2011 resignation, Egypt's ambassador to the United States Sameh Shoukry reported that his personal sources said Mubarak "is possibly in somewhat of bad health", while several Egyptian and a Saudi Arabian newspapers reported that Mubarak was near death and in a coma.^[81] On 12 April 2011, it was reported that Mubarak had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges.^[82]

In June 2011, Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb disclosed that his client "has stomach cancer, and the cancer is growing."^[83] Mubarak had undergone surgery for the condition in Germany the year prior and also suffers from circulatory problems with an irregular heart beat.^[83] On 13 July 2011, unconfirmed reports stated that Mubarak had slipped into a coma at his residence after giving his final speech, and on 17 July, el-Deeb confirmed the reports.^[84] On 26 July 2011, Mubarak was reported to be depressed and refusing solid food while in the hospital being treated for a heart condition and in custody awaiting trial.^[85]

Wealth and allegations of personal corruption[link]

In February 2011, the media reported on the wealth of the Mubarak family. ABC News indicated that experts believed the personal wealth of Mubarak and his family to be between US$40 billion and $70 billion founded on military contracts made during his time as an air force officer.^[86] Britain's Guardian newspaper also reported that Mubarak and his family might be worth up to $70 billion due to corruption, kickbacks and legitimate business activities. The money was said to be spread out in various bank accounts at home and abroad, including Switzerland and Britain, and also invested in foreign property. The newspaper admitted, however, that some of the information regarding the family's wealth might be ten years old.^[87] According to Newsweek, these allegations are poorly substantiated and lack credibility.^[88] On 17 March 2011 Senator John Kerry, head of foreign relations committee of the US congress, officially confirmed that the government of the United States froze assets worth $31 billion belonging to Mubarak, including property and bank accounts.^[89] John Kerry later retracted his statement saying he meant Gaddafi not Mubarak.

On 12 February 2011, the government of Switzerland announced that it was freezing the Swiss bank accounts of Mubarak and his family.^[90] On 20 February 2011, the Egyptian Prosecutor General ordered the freeze of Mubarak's assets and the assets of his wife Suzanne, his sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and his daughters in law Heidi Rasekh and Khadiga Gamal. The Prosecutor General also ordered the Egyptian Foreign Minister to communicate this to other countries where Mubarak and his family could have assets. This order came two days after Egyptian newspapers reported that Mubarak filed his financial statement.^[91] The Egyptian regulations mandate government officials to submit a financial statement listing his / her total assets and sources of income during governmental work. On 21 February 2011, the Egyptian Military Council, which was temporarily given the presidential authorities following the 25 January 2011 Revolution, declared no objection to a trial of Mubarak on charges of corruption.^[92] On 23 February 2011, the Egyptian newspaper Eldostor reported that a "knowledgeable source" described the order of the Prosecutor General for freezing Mubarak's assets and the threats of a legal action as nothing but a signal for Mubarak to leave Egypt after a number of attempts were made to encourage him to leave willingly.^[93] In February 2011, Voice of America reported that Egypt's top prosecutor has ordered a travel ban and an asset freeze for former President Hosni Mubarak and his family, as he considers further action.^[94]

Political and military posts[link]

Awards[link]

• Mubarak was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 1995.^[95]
• Honor Star Medal twice.^[96]
• Military Training medal.^[96]
• Military Honor Medal Knight Rank from the President of Syria.^[96]
• Honor Star Medal from the PLO.^[96]
• Decoration of King Abdul Aziz-Excellent Degree from King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saoud.^[96]
• Hamayon Merit from Emperor Mohamed Reda Bahlawy [Muhammad Reza Phalavi, Iran].^[96]

Monument[link]

A monument to Hosni Mubarak was erected in 2007 in Xırdalan (Azerbaijan).^[97] The Azerbaijani Musavat party called for its demolition in order to avoid idolatry. The monument was then taken down and a statue symbolising Egypt and ancient Egyptian culture was erected instead.^{[citation needed]}

Public image[link]

Mubarak is ranked 20th on Parade Magazine's 2009 World's Worst Dictators list.^[98] He, as other presidents had been before him, had frequently been the target of jokes by the Egyptian people for many years before his resignation.^{[99][100][101][102][103]}

See also[link]

	Egypt portal
	Biography portal
	Politics portal
	Human rights portal

• Saad Eddin Ibrahim

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hosni Mubarak

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hosni Mubarak

• President Mubarak at the official Egyptian government site (archived 2007)
• Air Marshal Hosni Mubarak at the official Egyptian Air Force site
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Hosni Mubarak on Charlie Rose
• Hosni Mubarak at the Internet Movie Database
• Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Hosni Mubarak in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile: Hosni Mubarak, BBC News, 1 February 2011
• Hosni Mubarak: The Last Pharaoh, slideshow by Life magazine
• European Parliament Resolution on Egypt's Human Rights Situation, 16 January 2008

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v t e Presidents of Egypt (List) Muhammad Naguib (1953–1954) Gamal Abdel Nasser (1954–1970) Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat (1970–1981) Sufi Abu Taleb1 (1981) Muhammad Hosni Mubarak (1981–2011) Mohamed Hussein Tantawi2 (2011–present) 1 served as acting President of Egypt for eight days following Sadat's assassination 2 currently acting head of state, as Chairman of ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, following Mubarak's resignation

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Wael Ghonim وائل غنيم
Born	(1980-12-23) December 23, 1980 (age 31) Cairo, Egypt
Residence	Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Nationality	Egyptian
Ethnicity	Egyptian
Alma mater	Cairo University (B.S.) American University in Cairo (M.B.A.)
Occupation	Head of Marketing of Google Middle East and North Africa Internet Activist Computer Engineer
Years active	1998-present
Employer	Google Inc. (on sabbatical)
Religion	Muslim
Children	2[1]

Wael Ghonim (Arabic: وائل غنيم‎, IPA: [ˈwæːʔel ɣoˈneːm]; other transliterations include: Ghoneim, Ghonaim) (born 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship.^[2]

In 2011, he became an international figure and energized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt after his emotional interview^[3] following 11 days of secret incarceration by Egyptian police—during which he was interrogated regarding his work as the administrator of the Facebook page, "We are all Khaled Saeed", which helped spark the revolution.^[4][5] The TIME magazine added him in its "Time 100" list of 100 most influential people of 2011.^[6]

Background[link]

Wael Ghonim was born to a middle-class family on 23 December 1980 in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Abha, Saudi Arabia until he was 13 years old, then he moved back to live in Cairo. In January 2010, Wael was promoted to Head of Marketing at Google in the Middle East & North Africa and moved to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

He earned a BS in computer engineering from Cairo University in 2004 and an MBA, with honors, in marketing and finance from the American University in Cairo in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Until 2005 he was Marketing and Sales Manager of Gawab.^[7][8] In 2005, Wael left Gawab to establish Mubasher.info a pioneering financial portal in the region.^[7] Wael joined Google Middle East and North Africa as their Regional Marketing Manager in 2008 based at Google Egypt.^{[citation needed]} In January 2010 Wael became Head of Marketing of Google Middle East and North Africa based at Google's UAE office in Dubai Internet City in Dubai.^[9][10] During the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Wael took leave from Google to focus on his work in Egypt and the Middle East. He has also been a consultant on the development of the Egyptian e-government portal and a participant in the ongoing political discussion after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

Involvement in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011[link]

In 2010, Wael Ghonim founded a Facebook page titled, "We Are All Khaled Said," supporting Khaled Said, a young Egyptian who was tortured to death by police in Alexandria. Wael Ghonim used this page in moving and integrating the anti-government protests of the 25th of Jan revolution. He first made an announcement on the page on the 14th of Jan asking members if they were going to plan on taking to the streets on 25th of Jan and do what Tunisia did? In less than 2 hours he published an event entitled: 25 يناير على التعذيب والفساد والظلم والبطالة [January 25: Revolution against Torture, Corruption, Unemployment and Injustice]. This was the first invitation and many others followed. He anonymously collaborated with activists on the ground to announce the locations for the protest.

The page also organized interesting activities such as the Silent Stands and the Police Communication Campaign.^[11][12]

In January 2011, Ghonim persuaded Google to allow him to return to Egypt, citing a "personal problem".^[13] He came to Egypt to partake in the Egyptian Revolution,^[12] but he disappeared on 27 January during the nationwide unrest in Egypt. His family told Al-Arabiya and other international media that he was missing. Google also issued a statement confirming the disappearance. Many bloggers like Chris DiBona and Habib Haddad campaigned in an attempt to identify his whereabouts.

On 5 February 2011, Mostafa Alnagar, a major Egyptian opposition figure,^[14] reported that Wael Ghonim was alive and detained by the authorities and to be released 'within hours'.^[15] On 6 February 2011, Amnesty International demanded that the Egyptian authorities disclose where Ghonim was and to release him.^[16]

On 7 February, Ghonim was released after 11 days in detention. Upon his release, he was greeted with cheers and applause when he stated: "We will not abandon our demand and that is the departure of the regime."^[17]

The same day, Ghonim appeared on the Egyptian channel DreamTV on the 10:00 pm programme hosted by Mona El-Shazly. In the interview he praised the protesters and mourned the dead as the host read their names and showed their pictures, eventually rising, "overwhelmed," and walking off camera. The host followed.^[18][19] In the interview, he also urged that they deserved attention more than he did, and calling for the end of the Mubarak regime, describing it again as 'rubbish'. He also asserted his allegiance to Egypt, saying that he would never move to the United States, the homeland of his wife.^[20][21] Becoming a symbol of the revolution in Egypt,^[22] Ghonim stated that he is "ready to die" for the cause.^[23]

At the end ..., he gathered himself for a few seconds and tried to make the most of the platform [El-Shazly] had given him. 'I want to tell every mother and every father who lost a child, I am sorry, but this is not our mistake,' he said. 'I swear to God, it’s not our mistake. It’s the mistake of every one of those in power who doesn’t want to let go of it.'"^[18]

On 9 February, Ghonim addressed the crowds in Tahrir Square, telling the protesters: "This is not the time for individuals, or parties, or movements. It's a time for all of us to say just one thing: Egypt above all."^[24]

Wael Ghonim also made an appearance on "60 Minutes", sitting down with Harry Smith. During his interview he said:

"Our revolution is like Wikipedia, okay? Everyone is contributing content, [but] you don't know the names of the people contributing the content. This is exactly what happened. Revolution 2.0 in Egypt was exactly the same. Everyone contributing small pieces, bits and pieces. We drew this whole picture of a revolution. And no one is the hero in that picture."^[25]

The scholar Fouad Ajami writes about the revolution:

"No turbaned ayatollah had stepped forth to summon the crowd. This was not Iran in 1979. A young Google executive, Wael Ghonim, had energized this protest when it might have lost heart, when it could have succumbed to the belief that this regime and its leader were a big, immovable object. Mr. Ghonim was a man of the modern world. He was not driven by piety. The condition of his country—the abject poverty, the crony economy of plunder and corruption, the cruelties and slights handed out to Egyptians in all walks of life by a police state that the people had outgrown and despaired of—had given this young man and others like him their historical warrant."^[26]

International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meeting[link]

Wael Ghonim attended the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in 2011, stating that "I feel like Joe the Plumber," referring to the conservative activist who became a shorthand for populist outrage during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. "When I was coming here, a lot of people were criticizing me for it. The perception is that the IMF was part of the problem. It made these regimes survive and put these countries into debt." Ghonim said he had come to the IMF to represent "people like me who don't understand economics." To which Strauss-Kahn replied, "Wael, you understand a lot more than you say."

According to Ghonim, the kind of macroeconomic discussions at the panel were far from the mindset of activists in Tahrir Square:

" Honestly we were just thinking of how to get rid of the nightmare, not to start dreaming. I went to the street because of two things: I hate it when I see people eating from the trash. I work for a corporation, I'm well paid, and a lot of us just sympathized with those people, but they're not willing to pay the price of really helping them out. It's not just me; it's thousands of Egyptians. One of my friends who lost his eye [during the protests] actually drives a Ferrari. He went on the day of 25th. The second was dignity. We wanted our dignity back. And dignity does have an economic aspect. "

He also took issue with Strauss-Kahn's characterization of "mistakes" made by the international community during the Mubarak era:

" It's such an understatement to say mistake. To me, what was happening was a crime. The way the international community was dealing with the injustice and dictators in the region was basically a crime -- partners in crime. "

Ghonim continued his criticism of the IMF's aid to the Mubarak regime and expressed a hope that the days of Egypt relying on international aid would soon be over.^[27]

Role after the revolution[link]

In April 2011 Ghonim announced he was taking a "long term sabbatical" from Google in order to start a "technology focused NGO to help fight poverty & foster education in Egypt."^[2]

In May 2011 Ghonim said that he has signed a "Revolution 2.0" book deal.^[28] All proceeds from the book will go the NGO he started in Egypt to fight poverty and provide education.

Awards[link]

Wael Ghonim topped Time magazine’s yearly list of the world’s 100 most influential people. On 26 April, He arrived in New York to be honored at the 2011 Time 100 Gala ceremony where he began his speech with a moment of silence to mark those killed in protests around the Arab world.^[29][30]

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, Wael Ghonim was awarded with the Press Freedom prize from the Swedish division of Reporters without Borders.^[31]

Wael Ghonim also received the JFK Profile in Courage Award. On 23 May, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, presented the awards to Elizabeth Redenbaugh and Wael Ghonim, who was named a recipient on behalf of “the people of Egypt.” Kennedy said she could think of no better recipients.^[32]

Wael Ghonim was ranked the second most powerful Arab in Arabian Business's annual Power 500 of the world's most influential Arabs.^[33]

The magazine's annual report stated Ghonim as the primary contributor to the promotion and coordination of the movement of Egyptian youth through "Facebook", adding that Ghonim came to international fame via commercial news outlets word of mouth after his leadership of the Egyptian revolution.^[34][35]

Criticism[link]

Ghonim's social media feeds and public statements have been attracting increasing criticism. Shortly before the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Ghonim presented a deal to the Egyptian people according to which Mubarak could have remained in Cairo with an "honorary status." He later appeared on Al Arabiya TV to deny having said this, and added: "I am stronger than Hosni Mubarak. I am stronger than Omar Sulaiman."^[36]

From 18 May 2011, a major campaign on Twitter gained momentum with the hashtag #unfollowedghonimbecause, criticising Ghonim for various failings and an exaggerated focus on the Egyptian economy.^[37]

He has also been criticised for failing to publicly remedy doubts about the genesis of the We are all Khalid Said Facebook page, which is believed to have had at least one more initiator.^[38]

In response to the above criticism, some of Ghonim's supporters have launched a Facebook page, trying to declare him the spokesperson for the Egyptian revolutionaries - a role which, at any rate, Ghonim has consistently rejected. More than 400,000 people have joined the page.^[39] Moreover, more than 360,000 people joined his personal page on Facebook and more than 1,650,000 people joined "we are all khaled saeed" page, which is run by him and other administrators who continue to be anonymous.

Personal life[link]

Ghonim is married to an American Muslim Ilka Johannson^[40][41] and has two children, Israa and Adam.^[42]

See also[link]

	Egypt portal
	Google portal
	Human rights portal

• April 6 Youth Movement
• Asmaa Mahfouz
• Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed
• Wael Abbas

Notes[link]