Hosni Mubarak

Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt

Muhammad Hosni Said Mubarak (born May 4, 1928), usually known as Hosni Mubarak (Mubarak also spelled Moubarak), has been President of Egypt since October 14, 1981. He reached the Vice-Presidency after moving up the ranks of the Egyptian Air Force and succeeded Anwar Sadat following his assassination (6 October 1981).

As president of Egypt, he is considered to be one of the most powerful leaders in the region. He is known for his moderate stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is frequently involved in negotiations between the two sides.

Early Days

Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928 in Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt. Upon completion of high school, he joined the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received his bachelor's degree in military sciences. In 1950, he joined the Air Force Academy and earned a bachelor's in aviation sciences, graduating at the top of his class. He then went up the chain of command holding the positions of pilot, instructor, squadron leader, and base commander. In 1964, he was appointed head of the Egyptian Military Delegation to the USSR.

In the years between 1967 to 1972, during the War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel, Mubarak was appointed Director of the Airforce Academy and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force. In 1972, he became Commander of the Air Force and Deputy Minister for Military Affairs. In October 1973, following the October War, a.k.a Ramadan War or Yom Kippur War, he was promoted to the rank of Air Marshall. In April 1975, he was named vice-president of Egypt and, in 1978, he was selected to serve as vice chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP).

Egypt under Mubarak

Following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat at the hands of Islamists, Mubarak became President of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Chairman of the National Democratic Party. President Mubarak has been re-elected by majority votes for successive terms on three occasions: in 1987, 1993, and 1999. The elections are of questionable validity and no one ever runs against him for fear of violence.

Although Mubarak's popularity grew over time and his role as a leader of the Arab world has been solidified in the 1980s and 90s, he started to lose support in Egypt by the mid 90s. The breakthrough economic performance of the early ninties was wasted with excessive government spending and the bloated public sector.

The dramatic drop in support for Mubarak increased with surfacing news about his son Alaa being corrupt and favored in govenment tenders and privatization. As Alaa started getting out of the picture by the year 2000, his other son Gamal started rising in the National Democratic party and succeeded in getting a newer generation of liberals in the party and eventually the government. Due to Gamal's increasing visibility and influence rumors about him being groomed for presidency became household. Nevertheless, this was publicly refuted by the president several times. Moreover, although the public generally likes Gamal Mubarak as a person, it is becoming more and more clear that any attempt to institute a hereditary pseudo-monarchy like North Korea would lead to a popular uprising.

In July 2004, Mubarak accepted the resignation of the Egyptian cabinet, and appointed a new Prime Minister. Egyptians are generally viewing the new cabinet with optimism, and economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation.

He spoke out against the 2003 war on Iraq, arguing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be tackled first. Egypt was a member of the allied coalition in the 1991 Gulf War and Egyptian foot soldiers were some of the first to land in Kuwait to evict Iraqi forces.