Hosni Mubarak

Mubarak's presidency lasted almost thirty years, making him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ruled the country for 43 years from 1805 to 1848.

Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (محمد حسني مبارك; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force.

Hosni Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928 in Kafr El-Meselha, Monufia Governorate, Egypt.

On 2 February 1949, he 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.

Mubarak served as an Egyptian Air Force officer in various formations and units; he spent two years in a Spitfire fighter squadron.

Some time in the 1950s, he returned to the Air Force Academy 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 the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic.

Mubarak undertook training on the Ilyushin Il-28 and Tupolev Tu-16 jet bombers.

In 1964 he gained a place at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow.

On his return to Egypt, he served as a wing commander, then as a base commander; he commanded the Cairo West Air Base in October 1966 then briefly commanded the Beni Suef Air Base.

The state of emergency, which had not been lifted since the 1967 war, stifled political opposition, the security services became known for their brutality, and corruption became widespread.

In November 1967, Mubarak became the Air Force Academy's commander when he was credited with doubling the number of Air Force pilots and navigators during the pre-October War years.

Two years later, he became Chief of Staff for the Egyptian Air Force.

He served as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rose to the rank of air chief marshal in 1973.

In 1972, Mubarak became Commander of the Air Force and Egyptian Deputy Minister of Defense.

On 6 October 1973, at the breakout of the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian Air Force launched a surprise attack on Israeli soldiers on the east bank of the Suez Canal.

Egyptian pilots hit 90% of their targets, making Mubarak a national hero.

The next year he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in recognition of service during the October War of 1973 against Israel.

Mubarak was credited in some publications for Egypt's initial strong performance in the war.

The Egyptian analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal said the Air Force played a mostly psychological role in the war, providing an inspirational sight for the Egyptian ground troops who carried out the crossing of the Suez Canal, rather than for any military necessity.

In 1975, he was appointed vice president by President Anwar Sadat and assumed the presidency after his assassination in 1981.

Less than two weeks after the assassination of President Sadat, Mubarak quickly assumed the presidency in the single-candidate 1981 referendum, and renewed his term through single-candidate referendums in 1987, 1993, and 1999.

In 1989, he succeeded in reinstating Egypt's membership in the Arab League, which had been frozen since the Camp David Accords with Israel, and in returning the Arab League's headquarters back to Cairo.

He was known for his supportive stance on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, in addition to his role in the Gulf War.

Despite providing stability and reasons for economic growth, his rule was repressive.

Under United States pressure, Mubarak held the country's first multi-party election in 2005, which he won.

Mubarak stepped down during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 after 18 days of demonstrations.

On 11 February 2011, then–Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that both he and Mubarak had resigned and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

On 13 April 2011, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

Mubarak was then ordered to stand trial on charges of negligence for failing to halt the killing of peaceful protesters during the revolution.

These trials began on 3 August 2011, making him the first Arab leader to be tried in his own country in an ordinary court of law.

On 2 June 2012, an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak to life imprisonment.

After sentencing, he was reported to have suffered a series of health crises.

On 13 January 2013, Egypt's Court of Cassation (the nation's high court of appeal) overturned Mubarak's sentence and ordered a retrial.

On retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on 9 May 2015 of corruption and given prison sentences.

Mubarak was detained in a military hospital while his sons were freed on 12 October 2015 by a Cairo court.

Mubarak was acquitted on 2 March 2017 by the Court of Cassation and was released on 24 March 2017.

Mubarak died in 2020, aged 91.

He was honoured with a state funeral and buried at a family plot outside Cairo.