CAIRO — Although President Hosni Mubarak announced Tuesday that he wouldn’t run for a sixth term, here are brief profiles of him and some other major players in the crisis roiling Egypt.
• Mubarak was born in the Nile Delta province of Menoufiya in 1928 and graduated from Egypt’s prestigious Military Academy in 1949. A pilot, he participated in two major wars — 1967 and 1973 — with Israel. He rose to the rank of general and commanded the air force during the 1973 conflict.
He became president after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat by army officers opposed to peace with Israel. He promptly imposed emergency rule, which the regime has used ever since to justify arbitrary arrests, infinite detentions and other harsh measures against opponents.
He became a close U.S. ally, preserving Sadat’s 1978 peace treaty with Israel and ruthlessly pursuing Islamic extremists but giving police free rein to crack down on his political opponents, especially members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
During his 30-year rule, Egyptians endured rising food prices, deteriorating infrastructure and public services, and high unemployment — especially among the young.
• Mohamed ElBaradei, 69, gained prominence as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, winning the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for the agency’s work.
While some opposition activists consider him a unifying figure who could win the presidency, others regard him as too pro-Western and an opportunist who remained outside the country as they took on the regime.
ElBaradei was born in 1942 to a well-off Cairo family. His father headed the Egyptian Bar Association.
• The Muslim Brotherhood, started by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, is one of Egypt’s oldest political organizations and its largest, most cohesive opposition movement.
In its contemporary incarnation, the brotherhood forswears violence and opposes al-Qaeda, embraces the democratic process and says women can hold public office, except for the presidency. It is fiercely critical of Israel and the U.S., but it says it would preserve the peace accord with Israel.
One of its key slogans is “Islam is the solution.”
The brotherhood supported a 1952 military coup that brought Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. But Nasser outlawed the movement in 1954, jailing and killing hundreds of activists. Others fled, establishing branches abroad. The movement moved underground, re-emerging in the 1980s and seeking to join the political mainstream.
• Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s former intelligence chief, was appointed first vice president last weekend.
Not much is known about Sulei man, 75, who kept a low profile in line with his previous post as intelligence czar. A go-between for Israel and the Palestinians, he was close to the U.S. and Mubarak’s most trusted adviser and troubleshooter. Suleiman is said to be brilliant, urbane and well-read.
Some experts suggest that he could lead a transitional government. But many protesters have rejected that idea, chanting that he too should leave office.
