The Minister of Military Production, Lieutenant-General Mohamed Al-Assar, passed away after an official denial of his deteriorating health, and also days after he was promoted to the rank of Honorary Team and awarded him the Nile Scarf.

His departure sparked controversy among the supporters of the Egyptian revolution, as some considered him partners in the military coup and the failure of the revolution, while others said that he was one of the reformist faces in the Military Council, and some relied on him for political changes.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi presented, today, Tuesday, a military funeral to Al-Asar, after he attributed it yesterday, stressing his role in the important stages that the country recently passed through.

Urgent # Al-Sisi presents a military funeral for the former Minister of Military Production # Muhammad_Assar pic.twitter.com/JbFkWOyUBX

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) July 7, 2020

The death of Al-Assar did not pass quietly, as the supporters of the Egyptian revolution differed between what he called and the number of his advantages, and he was delighted at his departure and critic of his actions, which included participating in the failure of the January revolution and his participation in the military coup.

destruction. The butcher Muhammad al-Asar .. America's first man, the godfather of arms deals, the black box of the coup ... Corona claimed its death before we tried him. He is now in the hands of the King of Kings ... Oh God, treat him with justice, not with your mercy ...

- rabrave Heart🗡🗡 (@ Mexzhsfvybt10) July 6, 2020

To God, and for the date,
Major General # Muhammad_Assar, when he was in the Military Council, he was the owner of the idea of ​​using the money of the Emirates and Saudi Arabia to overthrow the regime and militarize the country, and in 2018, he himself distributed the money coming from Abu Dhabi to the leaders of the Egyptian army to buy their receipts to accept the farce that occurred in the presidential elections in Egypt Its time

- Mahmoud Refaat (@DrMahmoudRefaat) July 6, 2020

On the performance of President Morsi Section in Cairo , we cried the University of "Down with military rule , " the moment of entry , Field Marshal Tantawi and the members of the Council military, out of respect for the blood of the martyrs of the revolution, overcame us attendees from the Brotherhood and the Salafis, and consider us the spoilers of joy
now is not some of them bear to call for mercy for those who did not bear to exclaim Against him
Glory be to God

- wael kandil (@ waiel65) July 6, 2020

Support or exhibitions?

Al-Assar appeared in the scene of the July 3, 2013 coup, but opponents of the coup circulated reports of his being under house arrest, which forced official television to broadcast a denial in the words of the military spokesman.

Months after this scene, the Brotherhood’s guide, Muhammad Badi, asked for al-Asar's testimony in his favor at one of his trial sessions, as Badi said on the platform of the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in: “Major General Muhammad al-Asar told us to take care of politics and let us defend the country and return to our barracks.”

A number of opponents of the military coup continued to pin high hopes on him, and many of them were keen to analyze his movements and gestures that he performed in the presence of President Abdel-Tuffah El-Sisi and during his speeches, to demonstrate his dissatisfaction with his policies.

In 2015 - two years after the coup - Sisi appointed Al-Assar as Minister of State for Military Production, which was considered by some at the time as the ouster of the hurricane from the Military Council, which Sisi sought to control by removing all of his leaders involved in the military coup.

Observers saw in Al-Assar a significant part and an obstacle that Sisi could not get rid of easily as he did with the coup comrades, starting with the former defense minister, the chief of staff at the time of the coup, Sidqi Sobhi, and through his son-in-law, the chief of military intelligence, later chief of staff Mahmoud Hijazi, and also Major General Ahmed Wasfi, and the brigade Osama Askar and others.

American umbrella

Observers explain the strength of Al-Assar, his deep link with the American side, which is the two-decade link where he was responsible for the Egyptian Armed Forces, and confidence in him reached the point of assuming armament responsibilities for 15 consecutive years, and after completing his service, the position of former Assistant Minister of Defense Hussein Tantawi was created for him. Then he became a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

An audio leak to Sisi’s former director of the office, the current intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, revealed the great influence of the storm, to the extent that Sisi, when he was defense minister, violated the military hierarchy protocol, where he left his office and went to the Assar office to discuss issues that were not disclosed.

The hurricane has a famous saying that Egypt is part of the US national security strategy, expressing pride in contributing to strategic interests in the region, and observers attributed this statement to his long relationship with the United States, which has the largest share of arms sales to Egypt, as others considered it a recognition of a fait accompli.

Al-Assar contributed to persuading the American side to refrain from stopping aid provided to Egypt as a punishment for the military coup, as it recently contributed to ending deals for French Rafale aircraft, and its name has emerged as an active official in providing the hospitals and citizens with the medical supplies needed to combat the emerging Corona virus.

Military tongue

Al-Assar graduated from the Military Technical College in 1967, participated in the war of attrition, and then the October War as a component of the Military Engineers Corps, and he rose to positions within the armed forces until he became the head of the armament authority responsible for contracting, entering, and exiting arms deals.

Al-Assar was referred to retirement in 2003, but the former Minister of Defense, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, created for him the position of Assistant Minister of Defense for Armaments, to return to service again in the position that he continued to hold for the remainder of the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, then in the era of Presidents Mohamed Morsi and Abdel-Fattah Sisi, which made observers regard him as a system cross.

Because of his diplomacy and calm, he was assigned the functions of communications with the armed forces with officials of foreign countries, as well as the task of calming public opinion after the clashes between the army and the demonstrators after the January revolution, and he apologized in the name of the army in front of the media.

Al-Asar was known for his deep silence and good listening to his interlocutors, and his keenness to take notes from the speaker's words, which was evident in his television interviews and in the testimonies of many of those who met during his service, and they praised his simplicity in dealing and his keenness to show humility.

Perhaps for this reason, the Military Council assigned him the tasks of communicating with the revolutionary and political forces during the January 2011 revolution, and he and Major General Mahmoud Hijazi were frequent guests on satellite channels to respond to all that was raised, and clarify the view of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on various issues.

Al-Assar appeared tactful and supportive of the democratic path and the civilization of the state, and he repeated on more than one occasion that the armed forces are against the approach of military coups, and he said in one of his statements that the armed forces do not bring down a regime by force even if it lost its legitimacy and popularity, but it also does not stand with it, in response On a question about the position of the armed forces if Mubarak did not step down after the January revolution.