Hosni Mubarak obituary

Ruthless autocrat who hung on to power in Egypt for more than 30 yearsHosni Mubarak, who has died aged 91, was a stubborn and uninspiring dictator who clung to power as president of Egypt for three decades. He was periodically challenged by would-be rivals and survived at least six assassination attempts until he finally stepped down at the dramatic height of the Arab spring protests in February 2011, subsequently facing trial and imprisonment as the consequences of his country’s faltering revolution played out.Mubarak hung on until the bitter end, sending his thuggish supporters on to the streets of Cairo and beyond to confront people who had overcome their fear with mass protests that took Egypt to the brink of civil war. Until he went, after 18 tense and heady days, the capital’s Tahrir Square became a symbol of popular hope and empowerment. Continue reading…
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