Marking the revolution

COMMEMORATING the 51st anniversary of the 1952, 23 July Revolution, in a televised speech President Hosni Mubarak acclaimed the achievements of the revolution, which provided a beacon of hope for the Arab people and their brethren throughout the Third World in their quest for security, sovereignty and stability.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mubarak reviewed steps taken by Egypt on the domestic and foreign fronts over the last half century, expressing the hope that progress and prosperity would continue unabated. "At this moment in time, we are looking at a new world, but also immense challenges in this new reality," he said.

To celebrate the occasion, Mubarak attended a graduation ceremony of the Military Academy accompanied by Defence Minister Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The newly graduated officers participated in a military parade to display their skills and outstanding training. Units from the paratroopers, commandos and the air force took part in the show, undertaking a mock military operation wherein they forcefully seized an enemy base.

Mubarak this year attended all of the military graduation ceremonies, which the defence minister praised as an indication of "strong connections between senior and junior generations of the armed forces". Tantawi added, "Great names had graduated from military academies. Those who carried out the great 1952 Revolution, Mohamed Naguib, Gamal Abdel-Nasser and others, men of war and peace, like the late President Sadat and President Mubarak were graduates of our military academy," concluding that "Only through strong communication with the new generation can we achieve the progress of our society."

Ex-minister dies

FORMER Interior Minister Abdel-Halim Moussa, who drew wide criticism after he initiated dialogue with Islamist militants in the early 1990s in a bid to end the cycle of violence, died in a hospital on Saturday 19 July at the age of 73. He had been suffering from cancer for the past year.

Moussa served as interior minister from 1990 to 1993 and led the fight against militant Islamist movements, mainly Al- Gama'a Al-Islamiya and Jihad, who had launched a wave of terrorist attacks against civilians, tourists and vital installations in the country.

Moussa replaced Interior Minister Zaki Badr in 1990, who was dismissed because of his acerbic tongue and equally harsh security strategies. Badr's time witnessed vicious crackdowns against Islamist militants that only fuelled hostilities and radicalised the remaining militants.

However, as Moussa took office he sought a more lenient approach to end the "blood feud" between the government and the Islamist extremists, opening a dialogue with them. His initiative was criticised from both governmental and some opposition quarters who accused him of taking a soft stance on terrorism. Consequently, he was dismissed by President Hosni Mubarak in 1993 and succeeded by former Interior Minister Hassan El-Alfi.

In October 1990 Moussa narrowly survived an assassination attempt when Islamist militants killed Parliament Speaker Rifa'at El-Mahgoub in an ambush on their motorcade.

Moussa, who is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters, graduated from the Police Academy in 1954 and later worked as a director of public security. He was appointed in 1987 as governor of Assiut, in upper Egypt, which for years was infamous as a hotbed of extremism.