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Hosni Mubarak
Arabic:
husniy muhammadi mubarak
(1928- ) Egyptian president 1981 until present, and military leader.
Mubarak was born into a higher middle class family, and his education was military, from both Egypt (National Military Academy and Air Force Academy) and Soviet Union (Frunze General Staff Academy).
He joined the Air Force in 1950, and became Air Force Chief of Staff in 1969, and Commander in Chief in 1972. He had several military positions under President Anwar as-Sadat, like Deputy Minister of War, and was one of Sadat's closest advisors.
In 1975 he was appointed Vice President. Mubarak was elected new President October 13, 1981, one week after Sadat had been assassinated. Mubarak declared on his inauguration that he would follow the political line of Sadat, which had been one of reconciliation with the West, and peace with Israel within internationally recognized borders.
Mubarak's program since 1981 has been one of economic reforms, allowing more political freedom, like letting the Muslim Brotherhood into the parliament, and giving more freedom to the press. Internationally, he has focused on neutrality between the great powers and placed his efforts on improving relations with other Arab states. In October 1987, Mubarak was re-elected with 97,1% of the votes in an election without opposing candidates.
The greatest challenge for Mubarak has been the militant Islamists, which not only represent an ideology that has resulted in the deaths of dozens of foreign tourists, but which are also motivated by the difficult economic conditions that most Egyptians face. Mubarak has only managed to bring noticeable growth in the economy in recent years, and has used milder measures to suppress the militant Islamists, than what has been the case in other Arab countries, like Syria and Tunisia.
Mubarak supported the UN sanctions against Iraq, after their occupation of Kuwait in 1990, and Egypt participated in the Gulf War with 38,500 troops, and has been part of the post-war efforts to stabilize the Gulf region.
Mubarak's government advised the Palestinians during the talks in Norway in 1993, leading to the Oslo Agreement of the same year. Mubarak was re-elected the second time in 1993, and then he declared that he would not run for presidency in the elections in 1999. But he did anyway, and on September 26, 1999 the Presidential elections were held. Once again, Mubarak was the only candidate, and once again he received close to 100% of the votes. These elections have faced stronger opposition than is normal for Egypt, and intellectuals voted against Mubarak as a protest against the results of his politics: significant unemployment and closer ties with Israel.
In the September 7, 2005 presidential elections, Mubarak received 88.6% of the votes, with the second most popular candidate receiving 7.3% of the votes. While the election was fair, the campaign did not give his contenders much room to propose their programs, suggesting that a totally free campaign might have weakened his results even more significantly.
© Copyright 1996-2008 LookLex Ltd. All rights reserved
By: Tore Kjeilen
Photo: David Rubinger/Corbis
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