Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala
| Mohammad Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala | |
|---|---|
 General Abu Ghazala | |
| Minister of Defence of Egypt | |
|
In office 1981–1989 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Ahmed Badawi |
| Succeeded by | Youssef Sabri Abu Taleb |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 January 1930 Beheira, Egypt |
| Died |
6 September 2008 (aged 78) El-Galaa' Military Hospital, Egypt |
| Political party | Independent |
| Religion | Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Egypt |
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1948/1950 – 1989 |
| Rank |
 Field Marshal |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars |
Suez Crisis Six-Day War Yom Kippur War |
Mohamed Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala (1930-2008) (محمد عبد الحليم أبو غزاله) was Defense Minister of Egypt from 1981 to 1989, when Egyptian president Mubarak removed him from office due to claims that he was involved in a missile-parts illegal import scandal from the United States, by violating U.S. export laws.[1] The USA did not allow exporting certain materials used for making missile heads to the Egyptian military. So the Egyptian intelligence under Abu Ghazala's commands managed to import those materials indirectly though Germany in a highly complicated undercover intelligence mission, until the FBI found out about the mission and issued arrest warrants for the involved Egyptian Intelligence officers and an involved Egyptian missile scientist.
Early life and education
He was born in Zuhur Al Omara Village, Dilingat, Behera governorate, in February 1930.[2] His family descended from "Awlad Aly" tribe. After completing his secondary education, he joined the Egyptian Royal Military Academy, then he received the battalion command diploma from Stalin Academy in the Soviet Union in 1949. He also graduated from Nasser Academy for higher military education (Cairo 1961). On the civilian studies side, he received a bachelor's degree from the faculty of commerce, Cairo University. Abu Ghazala received the diploma of honor from the National War College in the U.S., thus being the first non-American to receive such an award.[3]
Career
Field Marshal Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala was the artillery commander in chief during October War of 1973. When Minister of defense and military production, Ahmad Badawi, died along with 12 senior officers in a helicopter crash on 2 March 1981\ Anwar Sadat appointed Abu Ghazala minister of defense and military production.[4]
He did not participate in the Six Day War of 1967 as he was serving in the Western Desert.
He was also involved with Gust Avrakotos and Charlie Wilson in supplying weapons to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet Afghan war. The CIA bought the weapons and passed them through Pakistan's ISI to the Afghan rebel groups. Items included .303 ammo for Lee–Enfield rifles, limpet mines, and urban terrorist devices like bicycle bombs. There were also a number of rockets that some believe was the Katyusha.[5]
Project T and removal
The project T is part of the tri-national program with Argentina, and Iraq to develop a two-stage solid and liquid propellant missile with a range of 900 kilometres (560 mi). This program was referred to in Argentina as the Condor 2, and in Iraq as the Badr 2000.
The Project T missile is a Scud-B variant, whose payload was probably reduced in order to extend its range.[6]
On 15 April 1989, aboughazala resigned due to a mismanagement between him and president mobark , as aboughazala moved an army unit to another location, and gave the beach side land it used to occupy to the govern ate of hurghada to sell to tourism investors, and asked that the govern ate pay the military part of the sale to cover the cost of relocating. Mobarak did not like this, and an argument happened between him and aboughazala, in which aboughazala told him that he has had enough and redesigned. This was not aboughazalas first resignation, as he had resigned 12 times before that, and each time mubarak would send a mutual friend of him and aboughazala to convince aboughazala to withdraw his resignation, but that last time aboughzala refused. When mubarak saw that aboughzala will not withdraw his resignation, he sent Namaar the intelligence chief to aboughzala to convince him to accept the post of consultant to the president, and resighn that post in a few years, as if his resignation from the ministry of defense came public this would destabilize Egypt., and aboughazla agreed to this.
Throughout his tenure as Minister of Defense, Abu Ghazala was widely perceived as the second-most powerful man in Egypt, and a potential rival for power to Hosni Mubarak. His removal from office, and subsequent disappearance from public life, were seen as politically motivated.
2005 elections
In 2005, Abu Ghazala was briefly rumored to be a presidential candidate for the powerful but illegal Muslim Brotherhood.[7] He finally did not run, and the Muslim Brotherhood did not field a candidate in the first contested Egyptian presidential elections. The Muslim Brotherhood offered him to run as their presidential candidate, but he refused due to their different ideological backgrounds.
Death
Abu Ghazala died on 6 September 2008 at El-Galla Military Hospital in Cairo at the age of 78, from throat cancer.[8]
References
- ↑ Stevenson, Richard W. (25 October 1988). "Egyptian Minister Named in Missile-Parts Scheme". The New York Times. p. 25.
- ↑ "Abu Ghazala, Abdel Halim". Rulers. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ↑ "الأخبار - وفاة المشير أبو غزالة وزير الدفاع المصري السابق عربي". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- ↑ "Milestones". Time. 16 March 1981. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ↑ Charlie Wilson's War, George Crile, 2003, Grove/Atlantic.
- ↑ Jane's Defence Weekly, and AMI International's "Missile System of the World"
- ↑ Namatalla, A., Newsreel, Egypt Today, August 2005. URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20080914032526/http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5610. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Joffe, Lawrence, September 2008. Obituary: Abdel-Halim Abu Ghazala The Guardian.