HIGHLIGHTS OF HISTORY
- Omar Suleiman, head of the secret services of Egypt for nearly two decades
- He is credited with saving an assassination of Mubarak
- It has long been cited as a possible successor
(AP) - The last time Egypt was a vice president in 1981. His name was Hosni Mubarak.
His regime 30 years now faces strong pressure, announced Saturday that Mubarak's most populous country in the Arab world would return a vice-president. For this role, he hit Omar Suleiman, the intelligence chief who was one of the powerful players behind the scenes for a long period.
Suleiman was appointed vice-president was widely viewed as an attempt to restore order Mubarak. It is known and respected by the military is credited with breaking Islamic insurgency in the 1990s, for which he won the ear of the Western intelligence thirst important information on regional terrorist groups.
It has also long been mentioned as a possible successor to President Mubarak, the son of the aging monarch, Gamal, and some analysts have considered appointing members as a way to make an honorable exit for Mubarak.
"His loyalty to Mubarak seems rock solid," a former U.S. ambassador wrote in a cable U.S. diplomatic ordered disclosed to the Wikileaks site.
"Suleiman has vehemently denied any personal ambition, but his interest and commitment to national service is obvious," said the document 2007.
If the name of Suleiman is not known, it is intentional. As head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, the Mukhabarat as we know, he hid in the shadow of the Mubarak regime, which earned him the nickname "the secret of Ministers."
He even made trips to Washington, without public notice. On one such visit in 2006, he presented the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice silver box with a personal worth of $ 420
"He's someone we knew well and worked with closely," said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs PJ Crowley.
But if Suleiman was the presence opaque, its role is certainly not.
Suleiman is also credited with having saved the life of Mubarak. On a state visit to Ethiopia in 1995, Mubarak visited an ordinary vehicle, but Suleiman said that the president armored Mercedes to be flown to Cairo.
Accounts of an assassination attempt on Mubarak vary, but it is believed that Suleiman was sitting next to Mubarak in a hail of bullets ping of the car. The link forged that day cemented their relationship.
Born in a poor region of southern Egypt in 1935, Suleiman chose the army as a career, according to a biography of Foreign Policy magazine.
He rose through the ranks of Lieutenant-General of Egyptian infantry. After his country was allied with the United States, but the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, visited in the 1980s, reported foreign policy.
It has been requested for the position of superior intelligence in Egypt in 1993, at a time in the most populous country in the Arab world with terrorist attacks against tourists and basic infrastructure has been shattered.
Defense and security analysis firm IHS Jane said Suleiman's interaction with the Israeli Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency catapulted him a central role in the Egyptian security apparatus.
In 2001, he led Egypt's efforts for a Palestinian uprising against the next door. Later, he played a decisive role in forming a new Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas heads the Jane's.
Now, Omar Suleiman, the name in the annals of Egyptian history as the man who burned to defend a leader in difficulty. He saved the life Mubarak, but it will be able to get its power?
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