Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak; born 4 May 1928) 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. The length of his presidency made him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha. 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. 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. On that day Mubarak and his family left the presidential palace in Cairo and moved to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. On 13 April, a prosecutor ordered the former president and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928, in Kafr-El-Meselha, Monufia Governorate, Egypt. Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Military Sciences in 1949. 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 and eventually receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Sciences. Hosni Mubarak is married to Suzanne Mubarak, and has two sons: Alaa, and Gamal.
As an Egyptian Air Force officer, Mubarak served in various formations and units, including two years when he served in a Spitfire fighter squadron. Some time in the 1950s, he returned to the Air Force Academy, this time as an instructor, remaining there until early 1959. 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. In November 1967, Mubarak became the Air Force Academy's commander and 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. Mubarak has been credited in some publications for Egypt's initial strong performance in the 1973 war against Israel. As Mubarak was only in post for about a year when the war erupted, his role with the Egyptian Air Force was disputed by many. Among those who disputed the role of Mubarak was the renowned Egyptian analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, whose evaluation of the role of the Air Force in 1973 was different from that of Mubarak and his supporters. In a television interview dated 19 February 2011, 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. The role of Mubarak was further disputed by Shahdan El-Shazli the daughter of the former Egyptian military Chief of Staff Saad Eldin El-Shazli. 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 Eldin El-Shazli were erased and replaced by Mubarak. She stated that she intends to take a legal action with this regard.
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.
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.
In addition, Mubarak was sent by Sadat to numerous meetings with foreign leaders. 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 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.
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. This did not satisfy the majority of protesters as they expected Mubarak to depart immediately. The demonstrations continued and on 2 February, violent clashes occurred between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak protestors.
On 10 February, contrary to rumours, 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. 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. It had been suggested that Egypt be put in the hands of a caretaker government. It is unclear who will run in the next election. Many Egyptian political parties have been suppressed. One possibility would be the Muslim Brotherhood.
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.
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, stomach or pancreatic cancer, it was denied by Egyptian authorities. Speculation about his ill health flared up with his resignation on 11 February 2011. 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 unconciousness. 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.
On 12 April 2011, it was reported that Mubarak had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges.
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. 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. According to Newsweek, these allegations are poorly substantiated and lack credibility. On 17 March 2011 Senator John Kerry, head of foreign relations committee of the congress, officially confirmed that the government of the United States froze assets worth $31 billion belonging to Mubarak, including property and bank accounts. 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. 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 Minster 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. 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. 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. 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.
