Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, 91, dies

Cairo

FORMER Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has died at the age of 91 after undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit following surgery, state television said on Tuesday.

Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years until he was ousted following mass protests in 2011.

He was arrested in April 2011, two months after stepping down, and was in prison and military hospitals until 2017, when he was freed after being cleared of charges of ordering the killing of protesters.

Mubarak had been sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for conspiring to murder 239 demonstrators during the 18-day revolt. An appeals court ordered a retrial and the case against Mubarak and his senior officials was dropped. He was finally acquitted in 2017. He was however convicted in 2015 along with his two sons of diverting public funds and using the money to upgrade family properties. They were sentenced to three years in jail.

Many Egyptians who lived through Mubarak's time in power view it as a period of autocracy and crony capitalism. His overthrow led to Egypt's first free election, which brought in Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Mr Mursi lasted only a year in office after mass protests in 2013 led to his overthrow by then defence chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.

Mohammed Hosni Said Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928, in Kafr El Meselha in the Nile Delta. Opting for a military career when Egypt was still a monarchy, he entered the Air Force Academy in 1950. Four years later, King Farouk was overthrown in a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1964, Mubarak was appointed head of the Egyptian military delegation to the Soviet Union, the sole supplier of weapons to Nasser's regime. From 1967 to 1972, he served as air force chief of staff, became deputy minister for military affairs and was promoted to air marshal after the 1973 Arab-Israel war.

After Nasser's death, Egypt was led by President Anwar Sadat, who appointed Mubarak as vice president in April 1975, effectively designating him as heir apparent. Sadat was gunned down by Muslim fundamentalists on Oct 6, 1981. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG