Many supporters of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak believe that social media played an important role in fueling and organizing the protests that toppled him during the “January 25, 2011 revolution”.
But more than eight years after his ousting from power, Hosni Mubarak returned to knock on the doors of the popular video site «YouTube», where he talked on Tuesday evening to followers through a private channel, called “Mubarak Archive”, about what he described as “memories of the October 1973 war”, on the occasion of its forty-sixth anniversary.
The rare video of the 91-year-old Mubarak came days after his eldest son Alaa paved the way for his father’s appearance through a message on Twitter. He also used the same account to share a brief clip of the video that was posted on YouTube.
“Mubarak Archive”, which was launched on Sunday, attracted more than 15,000 participants so far. The video has recorded over 430,000 views (until Wednesday evening), via YouTube alone.
Mubarak said that his speech aimed to define “the extent of sacrifices, made by the October generation to erase the consequences of defeat.”
He added that he wanted “the armed forces to regain their confidence in themselves, and the people to regain their confidence in their armed forces.”
The video, whose publishers did not specify where it was filmed, shows the aging former president sitting in a classical chair.
In the background is a portrait of Mubarak, dressed in military uniform, while to his left is a book by the famous US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, entitled "The Crisis", which deals with the circumstances of the "October 1973 War" and the last days of the "Vietnam 1975 War ".