Hosni Mubarak

Former Egyptian president

THE FORMER Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who has died at 91, clung to power for three decades until the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings overturned autocratic regimes such as his, right across the Middle East.

He was forced to resign on February 11 that year, following 18 days of protests around the country.

Throughout his rule, Mr Mubarak was a stalwart US ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt’s peace with Israel.

But to the tens of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mr Mubarak was a relic, a latter-day pharaoh.

They were inspired by the Tunisian revolt, and harnessed the power of social media to unleash popular anger over the brutality that shadowed his rule.

In the end, with millions of people massed in Tahrir Square and city centres around the country and even marching to the doorstep of Mr Mubarak’s palace, the military that long nurtured him pushed him aside.

The generals took power, hoping to preserve what they could of the system he led.

Though Tunisia’s president fell before him, the removal of

Mr Mubarak was the more stunning collapse in the face of the Arab Spring shaking regimes across the Arab world.

He became the only leader ousted up to that point to be imprisoned. He was convicted along with his former security chief in June 2012 and sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of some 900 protesters in 2011. Both appealed the verdict and a higher court later cleared them in 2014.

The acquittal stunned many Egyptians, thousands of whom poured into central Cairo to show their anger against the court.

The following year, Mr Mubarak and his two sons – wealthy businessman Alaa and Mr Mubarak’s one-time heir apparent Gamal – were sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges during a retrial.

The brothers were released in 2015 for time served, while Mr Mubarak walked free in 2017.

Since his arrest in April 2011, Mr Mubarak spent nearly six years in prison hospitals. Following his release, he was taken to an apartment in Cairo’s Heliopolis district.

For a man who was long thought to be untouchable, prison was a shock. When he was flown from the court to Torah Prison in Cairo in 2011, he cried in protest. He is survived by his wife and sons.