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Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat

Term of office	September 28, 1970 – October 6, 1981
Preceded by	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Succeeded by	Hosni Mubarak
Date of birth	December 25, 1918
Place of birth	Mit Abu Al-Kum, Al-Minufiyah, Egypt
Date of death	October 6, 1981
Place of death	Cairo, Egypt
Spouse	Jihan Sadat
Political party	Before 1977: Arab Socialist Union, After 1977: National Democratic Party

Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat (محمد أنورالسادات in Arabic) (December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981) was an Egyptian politician and served as the third President of Egypt from September 28, 1970 until his assassination on October 6, 1981.

Contents 1 Early life 2 During Nasser Presidency 3 Presidency 4 Assassination 5 Family 6 Writings

Early life

Sadat was born in Mit Abu Al-Kum, Al-Minufiyah, Egypt, to a poor Egyptian-Sudanese family, one of 13 brothers and sisters. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Cairo in 1938 and was appointed in the Signal Corps. He joined the Free Officers Movement, committed to freeing Egypt from British control.

During World War II 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. When the revolution erupted, he was assigned to take over the Radio and TV networks and announce the outbreak of the revolution to the Egyptian people.
In 1969, after holding many positions in the Egyptian government, he was chosen to be Vice-President by President Gamal Abdal Nasser.

During Nasser Presidency

In 1954 Sadat was appointed Mininster of State, then in 1959 assumed the position of Secretary to the National Union. Sadat served as Speaker of the People's Council between 1960 - 1968, Vice President and member of the Presidential Council in 1964. Sadat was reappointed as Vice President in December 1969. When Nasser died the following year, Sadat became President, clearing out his opponents in what the state-owned media termed The Corrective Revolution.

Presidency

In 1973, Sadat, together with Syria, led Egypt into the Yom Kippur War with Israel, and succeeded in regaining parts of the Sinai Peninsula, which had been conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War. While the territorial gains of Egypt in this war were limited,approximately 15 km into the Sinai desert, Sadat's initial victories eventually led to regaining and reopening the Suez canal, and both restored Egyptian morale and shook Israeli confidence in their military supremacy, 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 sought a permanent peace settlement (much of the Arab world was outraged by the visit). In 1979, 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 and Muslim World. In 1979, the Arab League suspended Egypt's membership in the wake of Egypt's peace agreement with Israel; the League moved its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis. It was not until 1989 that the League re-admitted Egypt as a member, and returned its headquarters to Cairo. 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.

Assassination

In September of 1981, Sadat cracked down on Muslim organizations and Coptic organizations, including student groups; the arrests totalled nearly 1600, recieving worldwide condemnation for the extremity of his techniques. Meanwhile, internal support for Sadat disappeared under the pressure of an economic crisis and Sadat's suppression of dissidents.

On October 6, the month after the crackdown, Sadat was assassinated during a parade in Cairo by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization. They opposed Sadat's negotiations with Israel, as well as his use of force in the September crackdown. A fatwa approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric later convicted in the U.S. for his role in the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Though Sadat was protected by four layers of security, the army parade was considered safe due to ammunition-seizure rules; but the officers in charge of that procedure were on hajj to Mecca.

As air force Mirage jets flew overhead, distracting the crowd, a troop truck halted before the Presidential reviewing stand, and a lieutenant strode forward. Sadat stood to receive his salute, whereupon the assassins rose from the truck, throwing grenades and firing assault rifle rounds. The assassin Khalid Islambouli shouted "Death to the Pharaoh!" as he ran toward the stand and then fired into Sadat's crumpled and lifeless body. He was later found guilty of the crimes and executed in April of 1982. As the crowd of dignitaries scattered, many were wounded, including Foreign Minister (future U.N Secretary General) Boutros Boutros Ghali and visiting diplomats including James Tully, the Irish Minister for Defence, and four US military liaisons. In the ensuing firefight, seven people were killed, including the Cuban ambassador and a Greek Orthodox priest, and 28 were wounded. Sadat's bullet-riddled body was rushed to a hospital, but he was declared dead within hours, and succeeded by his Vice-President Hosni Mubarak, who was injured in his hand during the attack. Sadat's funeral was attended by a record number of dignataries from around the world, including a rare simultaneous attendance by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon.

In 1983, Sadat, a miniseries, aired on U.S. television with Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., in the title role. Egypt's Arab government, often criticized by blacks as Afrophobic, objected to the casting of a black man in the role and banned the critically acclaimed production. The network stood by its casting decision.

Family

Sadat was married twice. He divorced Ehsan Madi to marry half-Egyptian/half-British Jehan Raouf (later known as Jihan Sadat), who was barely 16, on May 29, 1949. They had three daughters and one son. Jihan Sadat was the 2001 recipient of the Pearl S. Buck Award. Anwar Sadat's autobiography, In Search of Identity was published in the USA in 1977.

Writings

President Sadat authored many books during his life.

• "The Full Story of the Revolution"
• "Unknown Pages of the Revolution"
• "Son, This Is Your Uncle Gamal"
• "In Search of Self"
• "Revolt on the Nile"

Preceded by: Gamal Abdel Nasser

President of Egypt 1970–1981

Succeeded by: Hosni Mubarak

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