History of The President Anwar El Sadat

Mohamed Anwar Sadat (December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer, who served as the third president of the Arab Republic of Egypt from October 15, 1970, until his assassination by militant army officers on October 6, 1981. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in the 23 July Revolution and was very close to President Gamal Abdel Nasser, serving as vice president twice and succeeding him as president in 1970. In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel, signed a peace agreement in cooperation with US President Jimmy Carter and were honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for this.

During the 11 years of his presidency, he changed the course of Egypt, moving away from many of the political and economic principles of Nasserism, reestablished a multi-party system, and launched a policy of economic openness. As president, he led Egypt in the 1973 October War to retake the Egyptian Sinai peninsula, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War, making him a hero in Egypt, and in the wider Arab world for some time. After that, he participated in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty; this led to him and Menachem Begin receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, making Sadat the first Muslim to win the Nobel Prize. Although the reaction to the treaty - which led to the return of Sinai to Egypt - was generally positive among Egyptians, it was rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood and the country's left, who felt that Sadat had abandoned his efforts to ensure the creation of the state of Palestine. Except for Sudan, the Arab world and the PLO strongly opposed Sadat's efforts to achieve a separate peace with Israel without prior consultations with Arab countries. His refusal to reconcile with them on the Palestinian issue led to the suspension of Egypt's membership in the Arab League from 1979 to 1989. The peace treaty was also one of the main factors that led to his assassination. On October 6, 1981, gunmen led by Khaled Islambouli opened fire on Sadat from automatic rifles during a show on October 6 in Cairo, killing him.

His upbringing and National activity,

Muhammad Anwar Muhammad Sadat was born on December 25, 1918 in the village of MIT Abu al-Kum, belonging to the governorate of Menoufia, in what was then known as the Sultanate of Egypt, to a poor family, he had 14 brothers. One of his brothers, Atef Sadat, later became a pilot and was killed in action in 1973 during the October War. His father, Mohammed Sadat, was from Upper Egypt and was working in Sudan with a medical team accompanying the Anglo-Egyptian army in administrative work, nursing and translation as well.his mother was a Sudanese from an Egyptian mother named set AL-Breen from the city of Dongola, whom his father married when he was working with the English medical team, but he lived and grew up in the village of MIT Abu al-Kom. Sadat noted that the village did not put a haze on his mind, but it was his grandmother and mother who fascinated and controlled him, and they were the main reason for the formation of his personality. Sadat was proud to be in the company of his esteemed grandmother, the grandmother whom men stood up to greet when she was passing by, despite her illiteracy, but she had extraordinary wisdom, so that families who had problems went to her to take her advice as well as her skill in providing prescriptions to patients.

Sadat recalled that his grandmother and mother used to tell him unusual Bedtime Stories, which were not traditional stories about the exploits of ancient wars and adventures, but about modern heroes and their struggle for national independence, such as the story of the poisoning of Mustafa Kamel by the British, who wanted to put an end to the struggle against their occupation of Egypt. Little Anwar did not know who Mustafa Kamel was, but he learned through repetition that the British are evil and poisoned people, there was a popular story that deeply affected him, and that was the story of Zahran, who was nicknamed the hero of denshwai, which is three miles from MIT Abu al-Kum.

Sadat received his first education in the village book by Sheikh Abdul Hamid Issa, then he moved to the Coptic Primary School in Tukh Dilka and obtained a primary certificate from it, and the village Paradise ended for Sadat with the return of his father from Sudan, where he lost his job there following the assassination of Lee stack, and the consequent withdrawal of Egyptian troops from the area. After that, the family consisting of the father, his three wives, and their children moved to a small house in the dome bridge in Cairo, Sadat was then about six years old, and his life in this small house was not as comfortable as the father's income was very small, and Sadat continued to suffer from poverty and hard life until he was able to finish his secondary school in 1936. In the same year, Nahas Pasha concluded a treaty with Britain in 1936, and under this treaty, the Egyptian army was allowed to expand, so it became possible to enroll in the Military College, where enrollment was limited to the upper class, and indeed he was enrolled in the college and graduated in 1938, and was assigned to the Signal Corps. He entered the army with the rank of second lieutenant and was sent to Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Sudan was a joint sovereign territory under joint British and Egyptian rule at that time). There he met Gamal Abdel Nasser and, together with several other junior officers, formed the Free Officers Movement, a movement founded to overthrow the British occupation in Egypt and eliminate state corruption.

Sadat with Mohammed Naguib in 1952

During the Second World War, Sadat collaborated with spies of Nazi Germany in Egypt as a kind of hostility to the occupying British. As soon as the British authorities found out about this, he was arrested and imprisoned for the duration of the war. By the end of the conflict, he had already met with the secret society, which decided to assassinate Amin Osman, Minister of Finance in the Wafd Party government, and president of the Egyptian-British Friendship Association, because of his extreme sympathy for the British. Osman was assassinated in January 1946. After the assassination of Amin Othman, Sadat again and finally returned to prison.

In Qarmidan prison, he faced the most difficult ordeal of solitary confinement, but the first defendant in the Hussein Tawfik case escaped, and with no criminal evidence, all charges were dropped and the suspect went free. Salah Zulfikar, a young police officer at the time, was the prison officer in charge at the time. In his heart, he believed in Sadat's heroism, that he played a patriotic role toward his homeland, and that he was convicted and imprisoned because of his love for his homeland. Zulfikar brought food, newspapers, and cigarettes with him and helped his family a lot in obtaining visiting permits to check on him. Anwar Sadat was active in several political movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the fascist Egypt girl party, the pro-Palace Iron Guard, and the underground military group called the Free Officers. Together with his fellow Free Officers, Sadat participated in the military coup that launched the July 23 Revolution, which overthrew King Farouk I. Sadat delivered the first manifesto of the revolution on the radio to the Egyptian people.

It is said that after the end of World War II, Sadat wrote to the weekly magazine "photographer" a letter in which he praised the legacy of Adolf Hitler.

After the revolution,

In 1953, the Revolutionary Command Council established the newspaper al-Jumhuriya and assigned him as editor-in-chief of this newspaper, and in 1954, with the first ministerial formation of the revolutionary government, he assumed the post of Minister of State in September 1954. He was a member of the Supreme Council of the editorial board. He also served as secretary general of the World Islamic Conference in Beirut in 1955.

He was elected as a member of the National Assembly for the Tela constituency for three sessions starting in 1957. In 1960, he was elected president of the National Assembly for the period from July 21, 1960, to September 27, 1961, and was elected president of the National Assembly for the second period from March 29, 1964, to November 12, 1968, and in 1961 he was appointed chairman of the Afro - Asian Solidarity Council.

In 1969, Gamal Abdel Nasser chose him as his deputy, and he remained in office until September 28, 1970

Presidency of Egypt,

After the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser on September 28, 1970 and because he was serving as vice president, he replaced him as president of the Republic. On May 15, 1971, he took a decisive decision to eliminate the Centers of power in Egypt, which was known as the correction revolution, and in the same year he issued a new constitution for Egypt.

In 1972, he dispensed with almost 17,000 Russian experts in one week, and it was not a strategic mistake and did not cost Egypt much, as the Soviets were a great burden on the Egyptian army, and they were Soviet military veterans and retired, and they had no actual military role during the war of attrition at all, and the Soviet pilots, despite their mission to defend the skies of Egypt from Beni Suef airport, but they had failed to achieve the mission completely, evidence is the loss of 6 Soviet MiG-21 aircraft led by pilots the fact that many people know that Sadat's commitment to this renunciation was one of the most important The steps of the October War, as Sadat wanted not to attribute the victory to the Soviets.
Also, one of the most important reasons why he took this step was that the Soviet Union wanted to supply Egypt with weapons on the condition that they would not be used unless ordered by him. Sadat replied to them with the word: "(sorry) I do not accept imposing a decision on Egypt except by my decision and the decision of the Egyptian people". Also, these Russian experts were already obstructing Egyptian military operations during the war of attrition, and a number of them were discovered spying for Israel already, and Egyptian officers and soldiers were not talking to them in any details about military operations or even training, the presence of these experts was just a symbol of Soviet support and a political game no more.

He made a fateful decision for Egypt, the decision of the war against Israel, which began on October 6, 1973, when the army was able to break the Barlev line and cross the Suez Canal, leading Egypt to the first military victory over Israel.

list of Egyptian October War commanders

In 1974, he decided to draw new milestones for the renaissance of Egypt after the war by opening it to the world, so the decision was economic openness.

One of the most important works he did was the restoration of democratic life, which was heralded by the July 23 Revolution and could not be implemented, as his decision taken in 1976 to return to party life, political platforms appeared as a result of this experience, and from the womb of this experience, the first political party appeared, the National Democratic Party, as the First party after the July Revolution, which he founded and headed and was initially called the Egypt Party, and then followed by the emergence of other parties, the New Wafd Party, the Progressive Unionist gathering party and other parties.

The bread Uprising was a popular demonstration and riots against high prices, which took place on January 18 and 19, 1977 in several Egyptian cities in rejection of a draft budget that raises prices for many basic items, where Dr. Abdel Moneim Al-qaisouni, deputy prime minister for financial and Economic Affairs, delivered a speech to the people's Assembly on January 17, 1977 regarding the draft budget for that year, in which he announced austerity measures to reduce the deficit, and linked this to the need to agree with the IMF and the World Bank to arrange the necessary additional financial resources. The street reaction to the increase was that people took to the streets until the government responded and backed down from the price increase. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat called it a " revolution of protectionism, "and the official media came out talking about a" communist scheme to create confusion and unrest in Egypt and overthrow the regime, " and a large number of leftist political activists were arrested before the court issued a verdict acquitting them.

Camp David Treaty,

Egypt-Israel peace treaty

President Sadat signs Camp David agreement with Israel
On November 19, 1977, President Sadat made his decision, which caused a stir in the Arab world by his visit to Jerusalem, to push the wheel of peace between Egypt and Israel with his hand. In 1978, he made a trip to the United States of America to negotiate the return of the land and achieve peace as a legitimate demand of each state. During this trip, he signed the Camp David peace agreement under the auspices of US President Jimmy Carter. He signed the Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel with both US President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The agreement is a negotiating framework consisting of two agreements, the first is a framework for a single peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, and the second is specific to the principles of comprehensive Arab peace in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights.

The first agreement ended with the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979, after which Israel worked to return the occupied Egyptian territories to Egypt.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for their tireless efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East region.

Relations with Arab countries,

The Arab reactions to his visit to Israel were not positive, as the Arab countries boycotted Egypt and suspended its membership in the Arab League, and it was decided to move the permanent headquarters of the Arab League from Cairo to Tunis, the capital, and this was at the Arab Summit held in Baghdad at the invitation of Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr on November 2, 1978, which resulted in an appeal to the Egyptian president to reverse his decision to support the Egyptian people by allocating a budget of 11 billion dollars to solve their economic problems، However, he rejected it, preferring to continue his solo peace process with Israel.

The Arab countries have severed their relations with Egypt, except Oman, Sudan, and Morocco. Many researchers have considered that this decision was hasty and ill-considered, and in essence, it expressed the future aspirations of the then-second man in Iraq Saddam Hussein. But soon the Arab League returned to the Arab Republic of Egypt in 1989.

His relations with the Copts

In 1981, President Anwar Sadat, exiled Pope Shenouda III, accusing him of fomenting strife between sects. Hosni Mubarak assumed the presidency on October 14, 1981, where in 1982 he released the detainees arrested by his predecessor Sadat and met with some of them, including Pope Shenouda III. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Violence against Copts has emerged over the past forty years as a result of the intersection of religious discourse and authoritarian control, as Muhammad Anwar Sadat promoted Islam in public life and rebuilt the Nasserist police state as a way to strengthen his political position. The report notes that Copts face many forms of daily discrimination, as Copts are usually prevented from holding leadership positions, as well as positions that are sensitive to national security, and from the top levels of the security apparatus to the educational front lines where Copts are prevented from teaching Arabic

The crisis with Iran,

After the Iranian Revolution, Sadat hosted the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Cairo, which caused an acute political crisis between him and Iran, and the means of expression from both sides were multiplied by an information war, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed.

At the beginning of 2004, under President Mohammad Khatami, Iran requested the restoration of diplomatic relations with Egypt, and Egypt stipulated that the street name, which bears the name "Khaled Eslambouli", be changed.

In 2008, a documentary film by an Iranian producer entitled "The Execution of the Pharaoh" was shown in Iran. The film described Sadat as a" traitor " and glorified his killers, which further strained relations between the two countries, and led to Cairo summoning the Iranian envoy to it, warning Tehran of further deterioration in relations between the two countries.

After that, the Iranian government officially announced the suspension of the screening of the film insulting Sadat and its withdrawal from the markets and announced that the film was produced by one of the Arab satellite channels.

His Final days,

By the fall of 1981, the government carried out a large-scale campaign of arrests, including Islamic organizations, Coptic church officials, writers, journalists, leftist and liberal intellectuals, and the number of detainees in Egyptian prisons reached 1,536, following signs of sedition and popular unrest rejecting peace with Israel and the state's economic policies.

His assassination,

Egyptian leaders. From left to right: Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, Ali Sabri, Hussein Shafei (Alexandria, 1968)On October 6, 1981 (31 days after the announcement of the arrest decisions), he was assassinated at a military parade held on the occasion of the anniversary of the October War, and the assassination was carried out by Khaled Islambouli, Hussein Abbas, Atta tayel and Abdul Hamid Abdus Salam of the Islamic Jihad organization, which was strongly opposed to the peace agreement with Israel, where they shot President Sadat, wounding him with a bullet in his neck, a bullet in his chest and a bullet in his heart. Sadat's assassination came a few months after the death of Field Marshal Ahmed Badawi and some military leaders in a helicopter crash in a very mysterious way, which opened the door to suspicions about the existence of a conspiracy. He was succeeded as president by former Vice President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

His political legacy,

Supporters of his policy believe that he is the boldest and most realistic Arab president in dealing with the issues of the region and that he pulled Egypt out of the clutches of the police state and centers of power and pushed the Egyptian economy towards development and prosperity.

Others, on the contrary, believe that it undermined the Arab nationalist project and the sole Egyptian regional role in the region, eliminated the industrial and economic renaissance project, destroyed the values of Egyptian society, and unleashed Islamist currents.

His personal life

His first marriage,
His first marriage was traditional, where he proposed to Mrs. "Iqbal Afifi", who belongs to Turkish origins, she was related to Khedive Abbas, and her family owned some land in the village of MIT Abu al-Kum and Qalyubiya as well, and this made the Iqbal family opposed Anwar Sadat's marriage to her, but after Sadat completed his studies at the military academy, the situation changed and the marriage lasted for nine years, during which they had three daughters, Ruqayya, Rawya, and Camelia.

His second marriage,
He married for the second time Mrs. Jehan Rauf Safwat in 1949, with whom he had 3 daughters and a son, Lubna, Noha, Jehan, and Jamal.