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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Fighter bid farewell
Mohamed Fawzi (1915 - 2000)
TODAY, Egypt bids farewell to Mohamed Fawzi, former minister of war and the man who rebuilt the Egyptian army after the 1967 defeat.
Fawzi's long and prestigious career with the army began after his graduation from the Military Academy, when he participated in the 1948 Palestine War as commander of anti-aircraft artillery in Deir Seneid.
During this war, and in 1949, Fawzi uncovered an Israeli plot to isolate his troops in Gaza. He spent four days with his soldiers carrying the heavy artillery pieces across wet sand beaches to thwart the enemy plan. On the last night, he was wounded when a land mine exploded and was sent back to Cairo.
He was later appointed head of the Military Academy, doubling as head of the Joint African Forces aiding liberation movements on the continent. In March of 1964, he was appointed Military Secretary-General at the Arab League.
On 22 June 1967, after the defeat of the Egyptian army in Sinai, Fawzi was appointed general commander of the armed forces and in January 1968 he became the first post-war minister of war, given the task of rebuilding the Egyptian army.
Fawzi is also remembered for his leadership of the 1968-69 War of Attrition along the banks of the Suez Canal, his involvement in the African liberation movements of the time and the introduction of advanced studies into the curriculum of the Military Academy.
Fawzi's political and military career ended with the death of late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.
He died yesterday at the age of 85 at the Al-Galaa Armed Forces Hospital in Heliopolis.
Papal coup
ISRAEL summoned papal envoy Nuncio Pietro Sambi to an urgent meeting at the Foreign Ministry yesterday to protest what it said was interference in peace talks by the Vatican. In what the Palestinians hailed as a diplomatic coup, the Vatican signed an accord with the PLO on Tuesday, which called the unilateral decisions and actions altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem morally and legally unacceptable.The agreement, signed following a 15-minute meeting in the Vatican between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Pope John Paul 11, called for a "special statute for Jerusalem, internationally guaranteed, and for the proper identity and sacred character of the city and universally significant religious and cultural heritage to be safeguarded".
Although the accord does not mention Israel by name, the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned it in a statement on Tuesday as an intervention in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. In response, the Vatican said the accord does not enter into questions of sovereignty. The Vatican stance underscores difficulties Pope John may face on his 20-26 March tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He is expected to leave Rome on 24 February for Egypt where he will visit Mount Sinai.
