Dictator of the Month: August 2002Dictator of the Month: August 2002
| Mohammed
Anwar el-Sadat
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat
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Biography
Mohammed Anwar el-Sadat (December 25, 1918 - October
6, 1981) was an Egyptian politician and President from 1970 to 1981. He was born in Mit Abu al-Kum, al-Minufiyah, Egypt. During World War Two he was imprisoned by the British
for his efforts to obtain help from the Axis Powers in expelling occupying
British forces. He participated in the 1952 coup which dethroned King
Farouk I. In 1969, after holding many positions in the Egyptian
government, he was chosen to be Vice-President by President Gamal Abdal
Nasser. When Nasser died the following year, Sadat became President. In 1973, Sadat, together with Syria, led Egypt into
the Yom Kippur War with Israel, trying to reclaim parts of the Sinai
Peninsula, which had been conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War.
While Israel eventually prevailed in this conflict, Sadat's initial
victories managed to restore the Egyptian morale, laying the ground for a
peace settlement several years later. For many years after Sadat was known
as the "hero of the Crossing". On November 19, 1977 Sadat became the first Arab
leader to officially visit Israel when he met with Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem. He made the
visit after receiving an invitation from Begin and he sought a permanent
peace settlement (much of the Arab world was outraged by the visit). In
1978, this resulted in the Camp David Peace Agreement, for which Sadat and
Begin received the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the action was extremely
unpopular in the Arab World and especially amongst Muslim fundamentalists.
Many believed that only a threat of force would make Israel negotiate over
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the Camp David accords removed the
possibility of Egypt, the major Arab military power, from providing such a
threat. As part of the peace deal, Israel withdrew from the Sinai
peninsula in phases, returning the entire area to Egypt by 1983. In September of 1981, Sadat cracked down on Muslim
organizations, including student groups, and Coptic organizations, making
nearly 1600 arrests and earning worldwide condemnation for the extremity
of his techniques. Meanwhile internal support for Sadat dissappeared due
to his arrogant style of government, economic crisis and suppression of
dissidents. Even worse, Sadat's economic policies only accentuated the gap
between the rich and the poor in Egypt. On October 6 of the same year, Sadat was assassinated
during a parade in Cairo by army members who were part of the Egyptian
Islamic Jihad organization, who opposed his negotiations with Israel as
well as his brutal use of force in the September crackdown. He was
succeeded by the vice president Hosni Mubarak. Sadat was married twice. He divorced Ehsan Madi to marry half-Egyptian/half-British Jehan Raouf, who was barely 16, on May 29, 1949. They had three daughters and one son. Mrs. Sadat is the 2001 recipient of the Pearl S. Buck Award. Source article at www.wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat and is subject to the GNU-FDL license for free documentation List of authors at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anwar_Sadat&action=history
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