Cut short?
Ashraf Marawan was at best a questionable hero and at worst an all-out villain, writes Gamal Nkrumah
Ashraf Marawan, who fell to his death in mysterious circumstances in London -- was a man of his times. He epitomised the optimism of the infitah (open-door economic policy) era instigated by the former president Anwar El-Sadat, of whom he was a close associate. There is no question that he was a controversial figure, even in his sudden demise. He made it big -- very big. And there is much speculation today about who the real Marawan was, and how he died.
He was certainly not known as a calmer of troubled waters. He was stigmatised in life as a duplicitous arms dealer. An arms dealer is suspect under any circumstances and Israeli intelligence sources have long claimed that he was a double agent -- working for both Israeli and Egyptian intelligence. After Marawan's funeral this week President Hosni Mubarak openly defended his record, albeit posthumously, praising him as a "devoted patriot" and not a spy. The president refuted the allegations that Marawan had tipped off the Israelis as to the timing of Egypt's first strike in the October War in 1973.
Marawan was reputed to have said, " [Gamal Abdel-] Nasser was merely my father-in-law, Sadat, was my father." This saying attributed to Marawan is a key indicator of his loyalties. His marriage to Mona Gamal Abdel-Nasser, the daughter of the late president, did not obliterate the fact that he was better known as Sadat's right-hand man, holding the position of his secretary for information.
The Western media has been most unkind to Marawan. The Egyptian press, less so. Some question the means by which he made his money. Ironically, during the presidency of his father- in-law he received a meagre salary of LE38. Soon after, he was to make many millions -- he died a billionaire. In the end he did not have a state funeral, yet, the Deputy Secretary-General of the ruling National Democratic Party Gamal Mubarak was there to bid farewell. Moreover, his coffin, draped with the Egyptian flag, was received at the Cairo International Airport by senior officials. Numerous prominent members of the Egyptian political establishment paid condolences to his family, in what was seen as a subtle rehabilitation of a tarnished reputation. To some observers, the regime's reaction to Marawan's death holds other implications. "In a manner of speaking, it was as if members of the Egyptian ruling clique acknowledged that they were all Ashraf Marawans," a commentator charged tongue-in-cheek.
Former defence minister and General Intelligence chief Amin Howeidi stressed that an investigation into the manner of his death was of vital importance. "There are many unanswered questions about Ashraf Marawan. The public demands answers. Why do the powers that be want to close the Marawan file? That in itself is curious, and quite frankly suspicious," Howeidi told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Still, the president's declarations after Marawan's death have officially closed the chapter on allegations of his shady dealings. Indeed, some observers note that Marawan had already been morally "assassinated" after the tumult surrounding his alleged intelligence dealings with Israel's Mossad. At the time of his death, he was reportedly finishing writing his memoirs.
For all his faults, however, he was in the unenviable position of a martyr of sorts, claim some of his critics. The Sunday Times was writing an autobiographical expose before his untimely death. Some openly suggest that he was "assassinated" soon after he was "outed" as a Mossad spy.
Ahron Bregman, an Israeli historian at King's College, London, was quoted as saying that Marawan was a double agent who "misled the Israelis over Egypt's plans" for the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
The truth about the precise nature of Marawan's dealings will most likely never be known. For the moment, his family are keeping mum. However, a close associate of Nasser who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned the role of Marawan in matters of state and national security during the Sadat period. "There is a cover up. The question is why?"
Marawan cultivated a studiedly apolitical public posture. His detractors believe that this was a grave distortion of reality. Even though he never held a ministerial position, he was hand-in- glove with ruling circles.
There are two sides to every story, and Marawan did not live to defend his side of the story. Destiny cut his life short, it would seem, in a most unexpected manner. Whether his heirs will decide to publish his papers in the near future is not known. Perhaps the posthumous release of his memoirs is the only way to clear his name. (see pp.2&11)
Caption: Sadat bestows the Republic Award on Marawan
C a p t i o n 2: Sadat bestows the Republic Award on Marawan
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/852/fr2.htm