'The Square' Film On Egypt's Revolution Will Not Be Shown In #Egypt #Tahrir #25jan

There’s a lot anyone can learn from Jehane Noujaim’s Oscar-nominated documentary “The Square,” an examination of the 18-day uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

But Egyptians may be least able to benefit from its lessons. So far, the film has not been approved for screening here.

On the third anniversary of Mubarak’s ouster, which falls on Tuesday (Feb. 11), Egypt is more polarized than ever, largely between those who are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and those who support the military. The film is a reminder of what Egyptians share, regardless of religious or political beliefs.

“The Square” depicts the uprising through the eyes of six revolutionaries who lived in Tahrir Square during those historic weeks and follows them as Egyptians struggled to redefine themselves. Mubarak’s ouster ushered in a tumultuous period that saw clashes with the military, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, the return to the streets to demand the deposal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s President Mohammed Morsi, and the sit-ins that followed Morsi’s overthrow by the army.

The film, available to American audiences on Netflix and in theaters, ends with the clearing of the Morsi supporters’ encampment, which resulted in nearly 1,000 deaths. Since then, the Brotherhood has been outlawed and people have been arrested for simply possessing Brotherhood materials, now a crime.

Noujaim, 39, is an accomplished documentarian and TED Prize winner whose credits include “Startup.com” and “Control Room,” a film about the Al-Jazeera network. “The Square,” though, is not a film that intends to accurately and journalistically represent all factions. Noujaim, an Egyptian-American who spent much of her childhood in Egypt, lived on Tahrir Square with her characters during the revolution. In many ways, she is one of them, and “The Square” is her contribution to the revolution.

The film depicts those historic events from the revolutionary’s point of view. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the square; Noujaim chose to follow the ones she was intrigued by, trusting that viewers would do the same.

Two of the most captivating characters are Ahmed Hassan, a young street revolutionary, and Magdy Ashour, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a father of four who, under Mubarak, was imprisoned and tortured. Despite their differing backgrounds and perspectives, the two become fast friends, and the exchanges between them provide some of the film’s most compelling moments.

Through Ashour viewers get a nuanced view of the Brotherhood and its army of foot soldiers, a stark contrast to the heavy-handed, black-and-white demonization of them in Egyptian media of late. Ashour had been a loyal member of the Brotherhood for decades, attracted to its religiosity and benefiting from its financial support. After it seized power, he began to question some of its decisions, which left him conflicted.

When Morsi was first elected, many Egyptians opted for Muslim rule. But that feeling didn’t last long. Only 150 days into his presidency, Morsi made a power grab that gave him even more authority than Mubarak.

The revolutionaries were upset with his autocratic maneuvers and with the new constitution that the Islamist-dominated parliament drafted, which they considered a betrayal of the ideals they had fought for. Noujaim said she spoke to many ordinary Egyptians during that time — many of them practicing Muslims — who were “deeply disturbed” that the ruling party was now determining who constituted a good Muslim.

Ashour is visibly torn in the film between the revolutionaries, whose principles he, too, had stood for, and the Brotherhood. He found himself increasingly at odds with Hassan and his other friends from the square.

“If there were an alternative, I wouldn’t want Morsi,” he says at one point in the film. “We’re afraid that if Morsi falls we’ll be taken back to prisons,” Ashour said.

One of the film’s most poignant moments comes a short time later when British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla sits with Ashour and his son and shows them video of Muslim Brotherhood members attacking protesters outside the presidential palace, some of the very same people who had been in Tahrir with Ashour.

Ashour’s son had gone to the presidential palace that day, and was on the side of the Brotherhood throwing rocks at their opponents. Ashour looks mournful, and chastises his son for his actions: “You have to stand as an individual,” Ashour tells the boy. “You have to think for yourself.”

It is Ashour and his conflict that resonated most strongly with some of the film’s most conservative and religious audiences in the United States.

When Noujaim took the film to Sundance, some of the screenings were in downtown Salt Lake City and attended by Mormons and ex-Mormons. They, as well as evangelicals, came up to the filmmakers after showings and said that, despite initially thinking they had the least in common with Ashour, it was he whom they related to the most. They identified with his deep faith, his trust in the fledgling government, and his ultimate disillusionment. Those feelings transcended culture and creed.

“We are all confused sometimes, and we question our beliefs,” Noujaim said.

Once Morsi was overthrown and the Brotherhood was again the victim of state oppression, that changed.

“Once they were persecuted, Ashour was immediately back on their side,” she said.

His rueful words all those months ago now seem prescient. Authorities recently raided his house, and he is reportedly in hiding.

Noujaim said she is not one of those filmmakers who believes her work can change the world. Perhaps, though, it can make a difference in what’s happening in Egypt today. Noujaim, who is currently in the U.S., hopes to be able to bring the movie to Egypt.

But “The Square” has already thawed some icy relations in the places it’s been shown. Noujaim said she spoke to an Egyptian woman in the United States who had seen “The Square” on Netflix, and decided to bring her family to a screening.

Like many other Egyptian families, they were so divided over events that relatives weren’t talking to one another. Seeing the film together enabled them to find enough understanding for one another’s viewpoints to enable them to begin to communicate once again, the woman told Noujaim.

And therein lies perhaps the most salient lesson of the film, particularly for Egyptians.

“We are all human beings,” Noujaim said. “Reminding ourselves of our humanity is a very simple idea, but I think it couldn’t be more important right now.”

As #Egypt 's Tourism Industry Crumbles, Business Owners Look To Military General To Restore Security

When Egyptians rose up against their government three years ago, it wasn’t just dictator Hosni Mubarak’s reign that crumbled. The mass protests, political instability, and now, increasingly frequent terrorist attacks, have devastated Egypt’s once-thriving tourism sector.

For many Egyptians still working in the industry today, there is only one answer to their problems: Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is gearing up for a likely presidential bid and is seen as a leader who will bring back security to businesses.

"Sissi is the only man who can solve Egypt’s problems," said Emad Nour, a third-generation shopkeeper in Cairo’s sprawling Khan el-Khalili bazaar, where tourists used to flock before the unrest began. "He can fix the security problem here."

Nour once made a decent living making intricate tables, traditional lamps and other handmade items that often attract tourists. But nowadays he, like many other vendors, has barely anyone coming to his shop.

"We depend on tourism," he said with dismay. "If there are no tourists, our lives are not good." Lots of stores around him have closed down, he said, adding that many shop owners have given up and changed professions entirely.

At Cairo’s ancient Giza Pyramids, which used to be swarming with foreigners, desperate vendors and guides with skinny horses now harass the occasional straggling tourists. Buses carrying tourists from the capital to resort towns along the Red Sea now travel in armed convoys through the restive Sinai, where hardline militants have launched a campaign against security forces. Once bustling hotels and youth hostels are eerily quiet.

From 2009 to 2010, before the revolution, Egypt took in $11.6 billion from tourism,according to Reuters. But 2012 to 2013 were marked by a devastating dip in tourism, with Egypt only earning $9.75 billion from the industry. Following the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year, tourism fell by a whopping 45 percent, Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou told Reuters.

Under the military-backed government, unrest has surged. In recent weeks alone,gunmen assassinated a top government figure, a jihadist group targeted security forces in Cairo with four bombs, and dozens of anti-government protesters have been killed in clashes with police.

On Jan. 29, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo urged its citizens to "limit their movements to the near vicinity of their neighborhoods," warning against traveling outside of Egypt’s cities by car. And many governments, like the United States and the United Kingdom, have issued travel alerts for Egypt.

Thousands of dissidents have been imprisoned, and rights groups and critics have slammed the interim government as repressive and increasingly authoritarian. Yet despite a heavy-handed crackdown on what the state has labeled a "war on terrorism," many Egyptians, especially those working in tourism, say forceful rule is the only way to restore security.

"We need a man who can stabilize everything," said Abdel Rahman Aly, a tourism company owner. "I’m against a man with a military background, but there is no one else."

In Egypt, Sissi is portrayed as a national hero. Posters bearing his face are plastered everywhere. Pro-government protesters who rallied on Jan. 25, the three-year anniversary of the revolution, didn’t chant revolutionary slogans of "bread, freedom, and social justice." Instead, they wore Sissi masks and praised the military leader for cracking down on violence.

"This man is an idol," Aly said. "If that works for everyone else, that works for me."

Aly says the only reason his company is still afloat is because he has started coordinating international trips for Egyptians, having largely given up on foreigners coming to the country. But with military checkpoints everywhere and a very real fear of terrorist attacks, the success of even this venture seems improbable.

Unlike Aly, some have their doubts that Sissi can up live to the expectations of his cult-like followers.

"The notion that Sissi can curb terrorist attacks is odd in my view," said Shadi Hamid, a Middle East analyst and fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center. "Under Sissi, over the last seven months, terrorist attacks have increased significantly. Brute force seems to be his approach to dealing with things -- but that’s not how you defeat terrorism."

Dr. Kareem Eltamamy, the owner of Dahab Hostel, a once bustling youth hostel just a short walk from Tahrir Square, agrees with that sentiment.

"If Sissi became president, the Muslim Brotherhood or whoever is making these explosions will just become more angry," he said, mirroring popular consensus that the Islamist group is behind the attacks, even though a Sinai-based jihadist group has claimed responsibility for most of the recent terrorist attacks across Egypt.

Eltamamy said his hostel, which is widely known among backpackers and budget travelers in Egypt, doesn't come close to reaching capacity on a good day. He describes the past few months in a single word: "hell." Unlike many Egyptians who wholly believe in Sissi’s promise to quell the violence, he doesn’t think the current security situation, or the tourism sector, will turn around anytime soon.

But after three years of tumult, he said he doesn’t know how it could get much worse.

Eltamamy recently poured money into remodeling his hostel, hoping to draw in tourists from the "adventurous" crowd he says now occasionally comes through. But so far, it hasn’t helped.

"Nobody wants to go to a country that is exploding," he said with a sigh.

12 killed in soldiers’ bus rammed by #Sinai suicide car bomber #Egypt

A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into one of two buses carrying off-duty soldiers in Egypt’s turbulent northern Sinai region, killing 10 and seriously wounding 35, military officials said.

They said the bomber struck as the buses travelled between the border town of Rafah and the coastal city of el-Arish. The explosion damaged bothvehicles. The 10 victims were the bus’s driver, three members of a security detail and six of the off-duty soldiers, according to a statement by Colonel Mohammed Ahmed Ali, a military spokesman.

“The precious blood of our sons strengthens our resolve to cleanse Egypt and shield its sons from violence and treacherous terrorism,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

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The wounded were being treated in military hospitals, he said.

The soldiers belong to the 2nd Field Army, which is doing most of the fighting against Islamic militants waging an insurgency against security forces in Sinai. The buses were on their way to Cairo, the officials said.

The northern Sinai region, which borders Gaza and Israel, has been restless for years, but attacks have grown more frequent and deadlier since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in July.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide car bombings are a signature method by militant groups linked to or inspired by al-Qaida. It was the latest in a series of similar attacks targeting army and police facilities and checkpoints. In August, gunmen pulled 25 police conscripts off minibuses in the Sinai and shot them dead by the side of the main road linking Rafah to el-Arish.

Northern Sinai’s violence occasionally has spilled over into cities in the southern part of the peninsula as well as mainland Egypt, targeting police, soldiers and politicians. In September, the Interior Minister, who is in charge of the police, survived an assassination attempt by a suicide carbomber. Earlier this week, a senior security officer who monitors Islamist groups, including Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, was shot dead as he drove in Cairo’s eastern Nasr City district.

Post by ‎البلد El-Balad‎.

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#Egypt’s 1952 revolution and military rule, a history in photos

On July 23, 1952 a group of Egyptian army officers, calling themselves the “Free Officers Movement” engineered a coup d’etat and forced King Farouk to abdicate the throne and leave the country. After years of building tension between Egypt and Britain over control of the Suez Canal and the Sudan, the military power grab abolished the monarchy and began to build a new sense of Egyptian nationalism. Revolution Day is commemorated every year on July 23.

The Egyptian Republic was declared on June 18, 1953, but military leaders have kept a firm grasp on power ever since. 

A waving, shouting crowd demonstrates against Great Britain in Cairo on Oct. 23, 1951 as tension continued to mount in the dispute between Egypt and Britain over control of the Suez Canal and the Sudan. Police used tear gas to disperse Cairo mobs and fired into other crowds in Alexandria. (AP Photo)

A slogan "Down with England" is written in chalk on a street in Cairo, on Jan. 25, 1952. (AP Photo)

 View of the Rivoli Cinema, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 1952, as it was burns during the rioting. A large crowd watches as firemen attempt to extinguish the blaze. (AP Photo) #

Aerial view of the remains of the burnt out 'Cicurel', Cairo's biggest department store, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 1952, after it was burnt out the previous day by rioters. The building is on Cairo's Fouad First Avenue. (AP Photo) #

 Fields guns take up a commanding position on the road to Heliopolis in the northern suburbs of Cairo on July 23, 1952 following the bloodless coup effected by the Egyptian army under the direction of Major-General Mohamed Neguib Pasha. Mohamed Neguib Pasha has proclaimed himself commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army. Hilaly Pasha has tendered his one-day-old cabinet’s resignation. King Farouk has asked Aly Maher Pasha to form a new cabinet. (AP Photo) #

 extile workers rounded up by Egyptian police and troops squat outside the Misr spinning factory at Kafr el-Dawar, Egypt on August 21, 1952, following rioting there in which nine people, including a policeman and two soldiers were killed. The factory was damaged by violence and fire. A military court is hearing charges against 29 of the workers. Another worker, 21 year old Mustaf Khamis was sentenced to be hanged after he was found guilty of being one of the principal instigators of the recent strike and riots

 General Mohamed Neguib (L) and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser leave the last Revolutionary meeting late 23 February 1954. AFP/Getty

 Praying at the Nasser Mosque in Cairo, Egypt for the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, on Oct. 2, 1970, from left are; Libyan Head of State, Moammer Gadhafi; United Arab Republic Provisional President Anwar El Sadat; Sudan Head of State, Gaafar Nimeiry; Algerian President Houari Boumediene; Palestinian Liberation Organization leader, Yasser Arafat; Hussein El Shafey, member of Supreme Executive Committee of Arab Socialist Union; Sheikh Mohammed Faham, Rector of Al Azhar University. In second row, at either side of the head of Faham, are two sons of late President Nasser, Abdel Hakim, right, and Khalid Abdel Nasser, left.

 A waving, shouting crowd demonstrates against Great Britain in Cairo on Oct. 23, 1951 as tension continued to mount in the dispute between Egypt and Britain over control of the Suez Canal and the Sudan. Police used tear gas to disperse Cairo mobs and fired into other crowds in Alexandria. 

 With their hands on their heads, some of the Egyptian police are escorted by British troops, from the police stations at El-Hamada and Tel-El-Kebir, to the local railway station in El-Hamada, Jan. 16, 1952. The British army were trying to capture guerrillas who had been sniping at British troops

 With hands on their heads, Egyptian policemen are marched towards a prison camp area in Ismalia, Egypt, Jan. 25, 1952, after their capture in fierce fighting between British troops and Egyptian police. They are guarded by a soldier from the Lancashire Fusiliers.

 Egyptian police officers are held prisoner by British troops after a battle in Ismalia, Egypt, Jan. 25, 1952. Egyptian police opened fire on British troops after refusing to surrender their arms, and the British troops with tank support returned their fire. Forty two policemen were killed and fifty eight wounded in the battle and over 800 were disarmed when the battle ended. Four Britains were killed and nine wounded.

This is a general view of a demonstration taking place at Opera Square in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 25, 1952.

 British troops, protected by armored car at left, rush into action in Ismailia, Egypt on Jan. 25, 1952 during fierce battling with Egyptians. Action is taking place outside the Egyptian police headquarters where the British fought the police and their guerrilla followers.

A crowd marches towards Shepherd Hotel in Cairo, Egypt on Jan. 25, 1952

View of the Rivoli Cinema, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 1952, as it was burns during the rioting. A large crowd watches as firemen attempt to extinguish the blaze. 

Aerial view of the remains of the burnt out 'Cicurel', Cairo's biggest department store, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 1952, after it was burnt out the previous day by rioters. The building is on Cairo's Fouad First Avenue

 Egyptian women struggle with Cairo police on Jan. 26, 1952 as they are ousted from bank two days ago during anti-British disorders. Women were preventing customers from entering bank. Rioting Egyptian crowds ran wild through Cairo screaming anti-British, pro-Russian slogans.

 View of the remains of the burnt out 'Cicurel', Cairo's biggest department store, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 26, 1952, after it was burnt out the previous day by rioters. The building is on Cairo's Fouad First Avenue.

In the centre is part of the famous Shepheards Hotel, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 27, 1952, after it was burned the previous day by rioters. In the foreground are the wrecked offices of Trans World Airlines.

British Military Police affix "Out of bounds" posters to the walls in the Arab section of Ismalia, Egypt, March 20, 1952. The British Army is pulling out of the area after clearing it of terrorists and having many battles between Egyptian police and British troops

British Military Police affix "Out of bounds" posters to the walls in the Arab section of Ismalia, Egypt, March 20, 1952. The British Army is pulling out of the area after clearing it of terrorists and having many battles between Egyptian police and British troops

 Mohamed Ezzedin waves his arms and struggles with police as he protests the sentence of ten years at hard labor given him by a military court in Cairo, Egypt on March 23, 1952. Ezzedin was sentenced for his part in the arson, looting and destruction which took place during last January's riots in the city. Eight more youths were given jail sentences on March 23 in connection with the riots, which caused 67 deaths and millions of dollars in fire damage.

During a coup d'etat led by General Muhammed Naguib, an Egyptian army tank and field guns are drawn up in front of the royal Abdin Palace, in Cairo, on July 26, 1952. Appointed Premier Ali Maher Pasha issued an ultimatum to King Farouk I, forcing the Egyptian monarch to abdicate.

General Mohamed Neguib Bey,who engineered the recent coup d'etat, broadcasts to the people of Egypt, in Cairo July 24, 1952. After the bloodless coup Aly Maher Pasha took office as Premier and on July 26 issued an abdication ultimatum to King Farouk. The king abdicated in favour of his seven-month-old son, Prince Ahmed Fuad, and left the country for Italy on his royal yacht.

 CAIRO, EGYPT - 1952: Meeting of the Egyptian "Free Officers" in Cairo in 1952. The Free Officers forced King Faruq 23 July 1952 to leave the throne and replaced him by his son King Fouad. Mohammed Nagib (2R) Gamal Abdel Nasser (3R) Anwar al-Sadat (From 4L). Others are unidentified.

During a coup d'etat led by General Muhammed Naguib, Egyptian army tanks and field guns are drawn up in front of the royal Abdin Palace, in Cairo, on July 26, 1952. Appointed Premier Ali Maher Pasha issued an ultimatum to King Farouk I, forcing the Egyptian monarch to abdicate.  

General Mohamed Neguib Bey, centre in uniform, who engineered the recent coup d'etat in Egypt, with newly appointed Premier Aly Maher, in sunglasses, at Maher's office in Alexandria, July 26, 1952. Maher has just delivered an abdication ultimatum to King Farouk. The king abdicated in favour of his seven-month-old son, Prince Ahmed Fuad, and left the country for Italy on his royal yacht.

Ex-King Farouk of Egypt made his first public statement since he went into exile, at a press conference on the terrace of Hotel Eden Paradiso at Anacapri, Italy on July 31, 1952, where he and his party are staying. Left to right: Queen Narriman; baby-King Fuad II; Farouk; Princess Fawzia; Princess Fadia; nurse (reportedly English); Princess Ferial (completely hidden behind nurse); as they prepare for posing for pictures on the terrace of Hotel Eden Paradiso. 

 General Mohamed Naguib Bey, who engineered last week's coup D'Etat in Cairo, gives a press conference at the Egyptian Army general headquarters in Cairo on July 31, 1952, Redently. The new commander in chief of the Egyptian armed forces had just returned to the city from Alexandria. He was there when King Farouk Abdicated in favor of his young son Ahmed Fuad. 

Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik (L) meets 08 August 1952 with Egyptian Chief Army Commander General Naguib in unlocated place. Doria Shafik (1908-1975), an Egyptian feminist, poet, publisher, and political activist, participated in one of her country's most explosive periods of social and political transformation. During the '40s she burst onto the public stage in Egypt, openly challenging every social, cultural, and legal barrier that she viewed as oppressive to the full equality of women. As the founder of the Daughters of the Nile Union in 1948, she catalyzed a movement that fought for suffrage and set up programs to combat illiteracy, provide economic opportunities for lower-class urban women, and raise the consciousness of middle-class university students.  

New Egyptian premier, Mohamed Naguib Bey is seen shortly after he accepted leadership, Sept. 7, 1952. 

Egyptian frontier guards stand to attent during a military parade in Cairo's Ismail Square on Oct. 23, 1952 in celebration of '90 days of Freedom.' The day marked the end of the first three months of major general Mohamed Neguib’s rule. In an address, premier Neguib stated that Egypt was prepared to fight for the liberation of the Nile valley.

Lt. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, 36-year-old leader of the Revolutionary Command Council of Egypt, is seen during a public appearance to win support for his governing revolution council, on August 1, 1954, at an unknown location.

A large crowd storms into the Ministry Council Headquarters 28 March 1954 in Cairo, during a demonstration supporting the revolutionary regime. AFP/Getty

A large crowd demonstrates in front of the Ministry Council Headquarters 28 March 1954 in Cairo, during a demonstration supporting the revolutionary regime. 

Mohammed Farghali, centre, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, found guilty planning the attempted assassination of Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser at Alexandria on Oct. 26th, is escorted to the execution chamber, in a Cairo Prison, Dec. 7, 1954, where he was hung.

 Egyptian Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser waves to a crowd of people as he stands in an open car moving through the streets of Cairo, Egypt on June 19, 1956. Nasser announced at a rally in Republican Square that martial law in Egypt is ended, that the revolution council which has ruled Egypt since King Farouk was deposed is dissolved, that Egypt's new constitution will be ratified and that a new president will be elected.

 Drawn on a gun carriage the flag-covered coffin of President Abdel Gamal Nasser passes through dense crowds in Cairo, Egypt on Oct. 1, 1970. (AP Photo/Dennis Lee Royle)

In this June 14, 1974 file photo Presidents Anwar Sadat and Richard Nixon shake hands for photographers as they pose in front of the pyramids at Giza, near Cairo. (AP Photo/Horst Faas) 

United Nations soldiers and journalists attend the historic signing of the Kissinger Agreement, bringing peace between Israel and Egypt in a deal brokered by the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. 

President Jimmy Carter stands center stage flanked by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin as the three leaders shake hands following the signing of the Middle East peace treaty at the White House in Washington, March 27, 1979. The ceremony took place outside the Executive Mansion on the North Lawn.

An undated picture shows late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (L) waving to a crowd as Vice-President Hosni Mubarak (R) laughs beside him standing in a convertible vehicle.

Egyptian soldiers fire on Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat while reviewing a military parade in honor of The October 1973 War, on October 06, 1981 in Cairo. The assassination is attributed to muslim extremist group Muslim Brotherhood. 

Egyptian soldiers tend to wounded after an attack on the reviewing platform which killed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Cairo, Egypt, on Oct. 6, 1981. Six others were also killed by members of the Al Jihad movement, religious extremists within Sadat's army, who opened fire during a military parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Arab-Israeli War of Oct. 1973.

Vice-President Hosni Mubarak casts his vote, 13 October 1981, during a national referendum to decide whether he will succeed the slain President Anwar Sadat as leader of Egypt. Mubarak came to office as Egypt’s fourth president after late President Anwar Sadat was slained by a group of military Islamist fundamentalists with allegiance to the Al-Jihad during a military parade 06 October 1981 and remained in power until resigning after a wave of popular protests in February 2011.