On this day in 1981, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated. As president he led Egypt in the October War of 1973 to liberate Egyptian territory occupied by Israel, making him a hero in Egypt and, for a time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards he engaged in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. This won him the Nobel Peace Prize but also made him unpopular among some Arabs, resulting in a temporary suspension of Egypts membership in the Arab League, and on this day 33 years ago, his assassination. When he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Israeli co-signer Menachem Begin, he said: “Let us put an end to wars, let us reshape life on the solid basis of equity and truth. And it is this call, which reflected the will of the Egyptian people, of the great majority of the Arab and Israeli peoples, and indeed of millions of men, women, and children around the world that you are today honoring. And these hundreds of millions will judge to what extent every responsible leader in the Middle East has responded to the hopes of mankind” The treaty, which gained wide support among Egyptians, was extremely unpopular in the Arab world and the wider Muslim world. His predecessor Nasser had made Egypt an icon of Arab nationalism, an ideology that appeared to be sidelined by an Egyptian orientation following the 1973 war. By signing the accords, many non-Egyptian Arabs believed Sadat had put Egypts interests ahead of Arab unity, betraying Nassers pan-Arabism, and destroyed the vision of a united Arab front and elimination of the Zionist Entity. However, Sadat realized early on that peace is the solution. And, as is too often the case with peacemakers, this marked him for death. Sadat was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypts crossing of the Suez Canal in 1973. In addition to Sadat, eleven others were killed, including the Cuban ambassador, an Omani general, and a Coptic Orthodox bishop. Twenty-eight were wounded, including Vice President Hosni Mubarak, Irish Defence Minister James Tully, and four US military liaison officers. The assassination squad was led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli after a fatwā approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman. Islambouli was tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed in April 1982. Sadat was succeeded by his vice president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled until he was deposed a few years ago. Sadats funeral was attended by a record number of dignitaries from around the world, including a rare simultaneous attendance by three former US presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Sudans President Gaafar Nimeiry was the only Arab head of state to attend the funeral. Only 3 of 24 states in the Arab League – Oman, Somalia and Sudan – sent representatives at all. Sadat was buried in the unknown soldier memorial in Cairo, across the street from the stand where he was assassinated.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 03:41:11 +0000
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