Egypt and the 'Arab Spring' … A Decade of Social, Political Changehttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2689781/egypt-and-arab-spring-%E2%80%A6-decade-social-political-change
Egypt and the 'Arab Spring' … A Decade of Social, Political Change
Tens of thousands of Egyptians demonstrate in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in January 2011. (Getty Images)
Two ousted presidents, thousands of civilian and military victims and wounded, three presidential and parliamentary elections, constitutional declarations without a vote, deep constitutional reform after a referendum, security calm after unrest and a neighbor that cannot find peace.
This is how the social and political scene took shape in Egypt in ten sometimes dramatic years of tumult as part of the so-called Arab Spring.
The developments began on January 25, 2011 with protest calls for better living conditions, freedom and social justice. They demanded the resignation of longtime President Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled for 30 years, and had taken inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia where the people successfully ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali just days earlier.
Egyptians held daily protests with the Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, becoming an icon of their movement. Mubarak resigned in February 2011 and the Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces was entrusted with leading the country. A constitutional referendum was successfully held on March 19 and presidential elections were set for 2012.
Amid the vacuum, the country’s most organized group came to the fore – the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist organization submitted a candidate for the elections and Mohamed Morsi was declared president on June 24, 2012. Instead of a “spring”, the election brought an “Islamist winter” as the Muslim Brotherhood put a halt to the natural course of political events and instead sought to cement its power over various state institutions.
Morsi soon issued a declaration immunizing his decrees from challenge and attempting to protect the work of the constituent assembly drafting the new constitution. Alarmed by the move, national and religious powers withdrew from the committee that was drafting the institution. Despite protests against Morsi, the constitutional referendum went ahead in December 2012, but garnered the support of only 63.8 percent of voters.
The tensions did not end there. The Muslim Brotherhood’s time in power fueled divisions and tensions as the organization continued to make missteps. Popular opposition against the group and Morsi continued to mount and peaked on June 30, 2013 when the army swept in an removed the president from power.
The ouster of the president and the Muslim Brotherhood sparked a wave of violence in the country, including a spate of bombings that targeted important security locations in Cairo and other parts of the country. Other attacks left dozens of soldiers, officers and civilians dead. Muslim Brotherhood supporters also staged protests in the Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda Squares despite Morsi’s ouster. In August 2013, the security forces were forced to intervene to disperse the protests. Several demonstrators and members of the security were killed in ensuing violence.
In the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster, Egypt needed a new constitution that would take into account the new reality in the country. The constitution declared by the Muslim Brotherhood had been suspended and a constitutional declaration, announced by then Defense Minister Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, was in place.
By January 2014, Egyptians approved their new constitution with an overwhelming 98.1 percent during a referendum. Due to his role in toppling the Muslim Brotherhood and meeting the demands of the people, Sisi submitted his candidacy for the presidential elections in March 2014 and would go on to achieve a resounding victory in June.
However, even with the election of a new president, terrorist attacks continued to persist in Egypt. The security instability on the inside were also challenged by unrest in neighboring Libya, which had become a platform for the arrival of gunmen and smuggling of weapons into Egypt. New challenges have also emerged in recent years, with tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the construction of the contentious Nile dam and Turkey’s expansionist agenda in the eastern Mediterranean.
Sisi met the challenges with his resolve to “cement the stability of the state”. He has largely been successful, with terrorist attacks on the decline. As for deep institutional change, the armed forces have been tasked with protecting the constitution and democracy, an added role to their existing duties of protecting the country.
Jamal Mustafa: Saddam and Other Iraqi Officials Headed to the Gallows with Heads Held Highhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5085096-jamal-mustafa-saddam-and-other-iraqi-officials-headed-gallows-heads-held-high
Jamal Mustafa: Saddam and Other Iraqi Officials Headed to the Gallows with Heads Held High
Jamal Mustafa al-Sultan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saddam Hussein’s entourage never expected that they would one day find themselves in jail. It never occurred to them that the American military machine would use all of its might to oust Saddam’s regime and overthrow the ruling party and army. They never believed that forces allied to Iran would assume positions of power in the new regime.
Times changed and Saddam, who controlled the fate of the nation and its people, found himself in prison where he counted the days until his execution. The man was unyielding until his last breath and his will remained unbroken.
The men who made up the Revolutionary Command Council or government soon found themselves in prison. They were interrogated by the Americans and Iraqis and a death sentence was always going to be their fate.
In the second installment of his interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Jamal Mustafa al-Sultan, late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law and second secretary, recalled the execution of his colleagues and relatives. He also recalled how he married Hala, the youngest of Saddam’s daughters, and how the late president acted around his family, away from state affairs.
Other officials who were held along with Saddam included “Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, my uncle and member of the Revolutionary Command Council Ali Hussein al-Majid, my other uncle Abed Hassan al-Majid, head of the Revolutionary Command Council Awad al-Bandar, Saddam’s half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan, Secretary Abed Hammoud and aide to the intelligence chief Farouk Hijazi,” said Mustafa.
He showed Asharq Al-Awsat a video that recently came to light of Khodair al-Khozaei, the former vice president during the American occupation. “In it, he said that he saw no justification for the death sentence against Abed Hammoud. Most dangerous of all, he confessed that he visited Iran and consulted with a judicial official, who encouraged him to sign the death sentence, which he did,” added Mustafa.
“The truth is that we sensed from the beginning that our trial was a means of revenge acting at Iran’s orders. One day, Abed Hammoud was informed that he was going to be moved to hospital and later that day the guards informed us that he was executed,” he continued.
“Mr. President (Saddam) expected to be executed. The truth is that his very existence, whether in jail or otherwise, was a source of concern for them. I can firmly attest that the members of the leadership bravely faced their death sentence. None of them showed any weakness or faltered,” he revealed.
He recalled the day they informed Barzan and Awad that they were going to be executed. “I was working out with al-Bandar when we received the news. I am not exaggerating when I say that he maintained his optimism even in that moment. They were executed the next day. Days later, I learned that Abed Hassan al-Majid, Farouk Hijazi and Hadi Hassan, an intelligence officer, were executed,” Mustafa said.
“Let me tell you what used to happen. One day, they came up with false charges that before the US occupation, I gave Mr. Khamis al-Khanjar (a Sunni politician) a sum of 250,000 dollars. Of course, the charge is baseless. They told me that I would remain in jail for life if I did not confess to the charge. I refused and told them that I enjoyed normal relations with Khanjar,” he went on to say.
“They later came up with a different scenario. They told me that they would take me to the Iraqi embassy in Jordan if I confessed to the charge and that I would late be released in Amman with a hefty sum of money. I told them that I would reject whatever they have to offer because I would not abandon my values to betray Khanjar, who was a friend,” he stated.
“They later accused me of complicity in the draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes, which I had nothing to do with,” he added.
Saddam Hussein with his daughter Hala in this undated photo. (Getty Images)
First call after Saddam’s execution
Mustafa recalled the first telephone call he had with his wife Hala and her mother, Sajida Khairallah Talfah, right after Saddam’s execution. “Five days after Mr. President’s martyrdom, I contacted my family. I spoke with my wife, and she was in very good spirits. She had very high faith and patience. I asked her about her mother, and she reassured me that she was also doing very well despite the pain,” he said.
“I pray that Gold Almighty will give her health and a long life. We have always derived our strength from her. My mother-in-law lost her two sons, Uday and Qusay, and then her husband. She had played a major role in supporting her husband from the beginning of his struggle. She always used to support him and stood by him throughout his career,” he remarked.
First meetings with Saddam
Mustafa recalled the early days of his meeting with Saddam. “They started when I began working for his special guard. That was when I first met him. Like most Iraqis and Arabs, I believed that he would be a difficult person, but the truth is that I saw him as a paternal figure,” he added. “When you work with him, you begin to develop a different opinion than the public impression. He was a very paternal figure.”
During their first meeting, they learned that they came from the same tribe and were distant cousins.
“I stayed by Mr. President’s side for around 20 years. I started off as part of his personal guard and he then tasked me with people’s affairs, meaning seeing to their needs and addressing their problems. He was very concerned with the people’s affairs and refused any one of them to be wronged. The truth is that many laws were amended or changed at the time following complaints from the people,” he revealed.
“There were two telephones at Mr. President’s office, and both were connected to my office. Whoever had a problem could call the president through the citizens’ line. I used to answer their calls and listen to their problems and set an appointment with the president. Sometimes I used to ask the caller to come in person with their request so that their problem could be tackled. Sometimes Mr. President would interject on the call to ask about the issue and would request to talk to the citizen on the line,” Mustafa said.
“He would listen to the person’s grievance and tell him to head to the dedicated office to tackle the issue. (...) So we used to receive hundreds of citizens every week to solve their problems. Mr. President was very concerned about these issues,” he stressed. “I have never met another person like him. He would listen, care and then come up with a solution.”
President’s son-in-law
Asharq Al-Awsat asked Mustafa about when he asked Hala to marry him. “It was in 1994. As is the tradition in Iraq, I headed with my uncles to Saddam’s family to ask her hand in marriage,” he said. “One of my uncles made the request to Mr. President on my behalf and he agreed and welcomed it.”
“A judge was summoned immediately for the ceremony, and we were married. We had lunch at the president’s house that same day. I first met Hala on September 12, and we were married on September 26. It was a short engagement in line with tradition.”
“Mr. President used to separate state affairs from his relationship with his family. His work was completely separate from family, which had nothing to do with political or state affairs. It never intervened in those issues. Mr. President was a man of state when he was doing his job, and a father when he came home. He treated his family as if he were its father – the perfect father. Every family wishes to have a father that can measure up to him because he looked after all of his children and all of his relatives,” Mustafa said.
“When he sat down to the dinner table, he himself used to serve his own food and ask his children about their day. He would serve them food and generally cared very much for them. The state is one thing and family is another. At the same time, he acted as a father to all Iraqis. He treated them fairly. This is Saddam Hussein,” stressed Mustafa. “He was always keen that Iraqis be treated justly and that none of them be wronged. He was also very firm with his children if they made any mistake.”
Saddam’s hobbies
Saddam was a “very traditional Arab man. He loved traditional Arab and Iraqi dishes. He himself used to cook his own version of the traditional Iraqi dish al-Habeet. (...) He also loved seafood and would cook the Masgouf fish dish himself,” Mustafa told Asharq Al-Awsat.
His hobbies included horseback riding, hunting, swimming and sharpshooting. “Occasionally, before heading to the front to fight against Iran, he would visit the al-Amarah region, where gazelle and geese are abundant, to hunt. As circumstances became more challenging, he limited himself to fishing, which he did regularly,” he added.
He was a skilled shooter from his youth. “Generally, growing up in a tribe, children are taught at a young age how to become a good shooter. This is part of our upbringing. He was also an avid reader. He was always reading something,” Mustafa said of Saddam.
