Mystery Engulfs Fate of Mubarak’s Memoirs

Guards carry the coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as they arrive at Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mosque, during his funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Guards carry the coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as they arrive at Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mosque, during his funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
TT
20

Mystery Engulfs Fate of Mubarak’s Memoirs

Guards carry the coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as they arrive at Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mosque, during his funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Guards carry the coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as they arrive at Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mosque, during his funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Speculations about the memoirs of late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have grown to new heights with some relying on their revelation based on repeated statements made by the former director of the Department of Moral Affairs, Major General Samir Faraj.

Faraj had said that he recorded 54 hours over 18 episodes documenting Mubarak’s biography between 1993 and 2000. 

Those awaiting the memoirs are eager to go behind closed doors with a man who ruled Egypt for three decades which witnessed important Arab, regional and international changes, and especially the 2011 Arab uprising.

It is rare for a president to write his memoirs in Egypt. The country’s first president, Mohamed Naguib, had an attempt which focused primarily on the period of his removal from power, and his dispute with the leadership council of the “July 23 Revolution (1952).”

Late president Anwar Sadat wrote a book called “In Search of Identity,” but it focused mainly on his pre-presidency days.

The late president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, did not write his memoirs at all.

As for Mubarak's memoir, controversy has spurred over the last three years. In a response to what Faraj claimed, Egyptian senior journalist Makram Mohamed Ahmed, quoting Mubarak, denied that the latter had written his memoirs.

Mubarak’s bio will be fraught with obstacles, especially if it addressed his role in the army, as there are controls related to the publication of military memos in Egypt.

Egypt’s former Army Chief of Staff Saad el-Shazly received a jail term for publishing a memoir which Sadat accused of revealing confidential military information.



Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
TT
20

Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

Tunisia's coast guard on Monday recovered the bodies of eight African migrants after their boat sank off the country's coast as it sailed towards Europe, a security official told Reuters, adding that 29 other people were rescued.

The boat sank in waters off the city of Abwabed near Sfax, a departure point often used by African migrants.

Search operations were underway for possible missing persons, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the national guard.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a major departure point for both Tunisians and others in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.