Egypt’s first post-mubarak ruler, Tantawi, dies aged 85
CAIRO: Egypt’s Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, who headed the military junta that ruled after president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in the Arab Spring protests, has died at age 85, the presidency said on Tuesday.
After his stint as Egypt’s de facto leader, he was soon sacked by the country’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Mursi, and spent his remaining years largely out of public view.
President Abdel Fattah el Sisi paid tribute to him in a statement that confirmed his death, calling him one of “Egypt’s most loyal sons”.
“He dedicated his life to serving the nation for more than half a century... (He was) a statesman who took responsibility for running the country during a very critical time,” the statement added, referring to the tumult after the 2011 revolution.
The government newspaper Akhbar al-youm said the field marshal died on Tuesday “after giving a lot” to his country.
The European Union’s delegation in Cairo paid tribute to Tantawi in a tweet, saying he had served Egypt “decades in crucial roles throughout his career”.
President Sisi declared a period of national mourning, without specifying how many days.
A veteran of Egypt’s wars and politics, Tantawi had long served as Mubarak’s defence minister and as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Tantawi became the acting head of state of the Arab world’s most populous country after an 18-day popular uprising during the region’s “Arab Spring” protests ended Mubarak’s rule in early 2011.
Like all Egyptian leaders from the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952 to the 2012 election of Mursi, Tantawi came from the ranks of the military.
Born in 1935, and of Nubian origin, Tantawi began his career as an infantryman in 1956. He served during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and in the 1967 and 1973 Middle East wars against Israel.
After taking charge of the country, his ruling council quickly said Egypt would stay “committed” to its regional and international treaties, implicitly confirming that its landmark 1979 peace treaty with Israel would remain intact.
In 1991, Tantawi was on the side of the Us-led coalition in the first Gulf War after Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
He served as Egypt’s minister of defence and military production for 21 years and became the army chief in 1995.