A friend in Egypt gave me this news yesterday. The Egyptian people have lived under emergency laws for 25 years under Mubarak, a dictator supported by serial US administrations because he helps prop up the illegitimate US Middle East foreign policy. Mubarak's son, Gamal, would like to succeed him in the near future, a depressing thought. It's kind of like the Egyptian version of the Bush family. This man who died was an impediment to this scenario, and his death is a loss for the Egyptian people. - Ed.
CAIRO: Former Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel-Halim Abu Ghazala has died after a long battle with cancer and received a state funeral on Sunday. Abu Ghazala, who was defense minister from 1980 to 1989, was once considered the country's most powerful man after President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981. He died in a Cairo hospital late Saturday at the age of 78. Abu Ghazala was the driving force behind efforts to reorganize the Egyptian military and to turn it into a strong and independent force, running its own ventures and promoting strong ties with Washington. In 1989, Mubarak removed the popular general from his post, appointing him into the more ceremonial role of "special aide" to the president, a position which he left in 1992. - AFP
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