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Prominent Mubarak-era Figure Safwat Sherif Passes Away

Safwat El-Sherif. (Ministry Of Communication & Information Technology)
Safwat El-Sherif. (Ministry Of Communication & Information Technology)
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Prominent Mubarak-era Figure Safwat Sherif Passes Away

Safwat El-Sherif. (Ministry Of Communication & Information Technology)
Safwat El-Sherif. (Ministry Of Communication & Information Technology)

Safwat El-Sherif, 88, who acted as Minister of Information under late President Hosni Mubarak rule, has died after a long struggle with illness.

His family revealed that he was buried in the family cemetery in Heliopolis, where they received condolences after a decision to cancel a funeral ritual due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sherif had suffered from Leukemia for six years, his son Ehab said, adding that he was transferred to Wadi Al-Nile Hospital during the past few days to receive his treatment and to be followed up by the medical team.

Born in December 1933, he graduated from the Military Academy and was considered one of the most prominent figures of the Mubarak era.

For 22 years, Sherif had been the Minister of Information. He was transferred to the General Intelligence Service and then served as chairman of the State Information Service during the era of the late President Muhammad Anwar Sadat.

He was also one of the founding members of the National Democratic Party in 1966.

Sherif was handed a 3-year prison sentence in an illicit gain case. After the January 2011 revolution, he was brought to trial on a number of charges, including the killing of demonstrators, but the judiciary acquitted him of those charges.

Gamal Mubarak, son of the former Egyptian president, attended Sherif's funeral on Thursday.

Minister of State for Information Osama Heikal mourned the deceased, saying that he has left an impact on the Egyptian media throughout the past years.

Establishing the Egyptian Media Production City and launching the Egyptian Satellite "Nile Sat" are considered key achievements by Sherif.

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Hezbollah Claims it Foiled Plot to Smuggle Explosive-Laden Pagers in Türkiye

Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
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Hezbollah Claims it Foiled Plot to Smuggle Explosive-Laden Pagers in Türkiye

Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)
Pagers on display at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024 (Reuters)

Hezbollah has revealed alerting Turkish authorities to a shipment of booby-trapped pagers at Istanbul Airport last September, saying its tip-off prevented a major attack. Turkish media previously reported that national intelligence forces had intercepted a shipment of electronic devices rigged with explosives en route from Istanbul to Lebanon.

According to Turkish sources, the operation took place on September 20, just three days after a deadly incident in Lebanon in which hundreds of communication pagers used by Hezbollah reportedly exploded, killing around 40 people and injuring hundreds. Many of the injuries involved damage to eyes and limbs. Reports at the time indicated that approximately 3,000 devices had detonated. Israel later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in April that Israeli intelligence had orchestrated the sabotage. Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu revealed that Mossad had tracked pagers Hezbollah sent for scanning in Iran and targeted the scanning equipment beforehand. “We destroyed the scanner and the operator,” he said.

Second Shipment Thwarted

The intercepted shipment in Türkiye was discovered on September 20, after Turkish intelligence received a tip-off about a suspicious cargo scheduled for transfer to Beirut. The shipment had arrived from Hong Kong on September 16 via the Taiwanese company SMT Global Logistics and was falsely declared as containing food processors. It was scheduled to be flown to Lebanon on September 27.

Upon inspection, Turkish authorities found 61 boxes weighing over 850 kilograms. The contents included 1,300 “Gold Apollo 924 R3 GP” pagers, 710 desk chargers, and various electronics such as mixers and audio devices. Detailed analysis revealed that explosive materials had been injected into the pagers’ batteries, allowing for remote detonation via electronic signal or short circuit.

The pagers were traced back to Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, reportedly linked to a Hungarian company, Bac Consulting KFT, which Turkish media suggest may be a front for intelligence operations.

Hezbollah Confirms it was Behing the Tip-off

Although Turkish authorities did not publicly name the source of the intelligence, Hezbollah confirmed its role. Speaking to Lebanon’s LBCI channel, Hezbollah media official Youssef Zein said the party had warned Turkish officials of a “booby-trapped pager shipment” at Istanbul Airport that was bound for Lebanon.

Pagers are small wireless communication devices used for receiving text messages and alerts and are commonly deployed in field operations. A Lebanese security source stated that Hezbollah had previously ordered 5,000 such devices from Gold Apollo in early 2024.

Israeli media reports claimed the attack on the devices was the result of years of work by Mossad to infiltrate Hezbollah’s communication infrastructure, both to spy on its operations and to physically disrupt its networks.

Israel last week honored three Mossad operatives allegedly involved in the operation. Their identities were kept secret, and they appeared masked at a torch-lighting ceremony during Independence Day celebrations.