The former Egyptian Minister of Defense, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, died today, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, at the age of 85, after a struggle with illness.

Tantawi is the longest-serving Minister of Defense in Egypt's history (21 years), and the US State Department described him in one of its cables in 2008 as "nice and polite" and "resistant to change", according to what WikiLeaks revealed.

Birth, upbringing and tasks

  • October 31, 1935: Muhammad Hussein Tantawi was born in Cairo to an Egyptian Nubian family.

  • He is married and has two sons.

  • 1956: Graduated from the Military College.

  • 1971: Received the Command and Staff College course.

  • 1975: He worked as a military attache to Egypt in Pakistan and then in Afghanistan.

  • 1986: Appointed commander of the Second Field Army.

  • 1988: Appointed commander of the Republican Guard.

  • 1991: Participated in the war to liberate Kuwait as head of the Armed Forces Operations Authority.

  • 1991: He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense at the rank of Lieutenant-General. A month later, the late President Hosni Mubarak issued a decision promoting him to the rank of First Lieutenant-General.

  • October 4, 1993: President Mubarak issued a republican decree promoting him to the rank of Field Marshal and Minister of Defense and Military Production.

  • WikiLeaks has revealed a US State Department cable dating back to 2008 describing Field Marshal Tantawi as "nice and polite", adding that he is "resistant to change".

  • February 4, 2011: At the height of the Egyptian revolution against President Mubarak, he visited Tahrir Square (central Cairo), as the first visit by a minister to the center of the protests.

  • The Egyptian army adopted a positive position on the revolution, and did not prevent the demonstrators from gathering. On February 10, 2011, the Military Council announced (in statement No. 1) that it was in permanent session headed by Field Marshal Tantawi to discuss the necessary measures and measures to preserve the homeland.

  • February 11, 2011: Tantawi assumed the presidency of Egypt in his capacity as head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after Mubarak stepped down, and remained until the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, took the constitutional oath and took office on July 1, 2012.

  • The council assumed power and administering the country temporarily after Mubarak stepped down. Tantawi confirmed during a meeting with commanders and officers of the Second and Third Field Armies that the armed forces had several options during the January 25 revolution, and took the right decision to stand by the people’s demands.

  • During his rule (February 11, 2011-30 June 2012), the issue of foreign funding in Egypt was raised;

    After accusing a number of non-governmental organizations - which employ Egyptians and foreigners of American and European nationalities - of receiving illegal foreign funding and interfering in the country's political affairs, accusations that were met with international criticism, which Cairo rejected.

  • March 2012: Cairo deported 16 foreigners out of 43 workers in those organizations accused in the case, in addition to issuing decisions freezing assets and banning travel for the remaining.

  • August 12, 2012: Tantawi was referred to retirement by a decision of the late President Mohamed Morsi, and he was awarded the Nile Necklace and appointed as an advisor to the President of the Republic.

  • March 9, 2015: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated a mosque in the Fifth Settlement area in New Cairo, which was built by the armed forces, and named after Field Marshal Tantawi.

  • September 21, 2021: Tantawi passed away after a struggle with illness, at the age of 85, and 3 days of official mourning was declared.

  • President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attended his funeral from the Mosque of the Field Marshal Tantawi, and named after him the military base of Al-Haytakis (east of Cairo).

  • President Sisi mourned him, exonerating him of any bloody events that the country has witnessed over the past years.

Mohamed Mahmoud, Abbasiya and Maspero

  • Some held him responsible for the deaths of at least 600 people in several events that occurred while he was in charge of the country's affairs, such as the events of Mohamed Mahmoud, the deaths of the Cabinet events, the Maspero events, the Abbasid events, Port Said stadium, the killing of Egyptian soldiers in Rafah, and the trial of more than 13,000 civilians. before the military courts.

  • Many have held him responsible for other human rights violations;

    Such as the decision issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to conduct a virginity test on girls detained in prisons, which the Administrative Court of the State Council decided to stop, and obligated Field Marshal Tantawi to pay the costs of the case.

Military positions and wars

  • Military Attaché in Pakistan.

  • Commander of the 16th Battalion during the October 1973 war.

  • Commander of the 136th Infantry Mechanized Brigade.

  • Commander of the 18th Infantry Division, Mechanics.

  • Commander of the Planning Branch, Army Field Operations Division.

  • Chief of Operations Branch, Army Field Operations Division.

  • Infantry Brigade Commander.

  • Head of the Operations Branch of the Armed Forces Operations Authority.

  • Motorized Infantry Division Commander.

  • Commander of the Planning Branch of the Armed Forces.

  • Chief of Staff of the Second Field Army.

  • Commander of the Second Field Army.

  • Commander of the Republican Guard.

  • Head of the Armed Forces Operations Authority.

  • He participated in the 1967 war and the battles of the War of Attrition (1967-1972).

  • He participated in the October 1973 war and was a commander of an infantry fighting unit.

  • He was awarded many decorations, medals and medals, including the Medal of Military Courage.