Zaki Badr

Zaki Badr (Arabic: زكي بدر; 28 February 1926 – 2 April 1997) was an Egyptian major general and the former interior minister of Egypt who served in the post from 1986 to 1990 in the Sedki Cabinet. Badr had a confrontational approach during his term.[1]

Zaki Badr
Minister of Interior
In office
27 February 1986 – January 1990
Prime MinisterAtef Sedki
Preceded byAhmed Rushdi
Succeeded byAbdul Halim Moussa
Personal details
Born28 February 1926
Minya province
Died2 April 1997(1997-04-02) (aged 71)
United States
NationalityEgyptian
ChildrenAhmed Zaki
Alma materPolice Academy
Military service
RankMajor General

Early life and education

Badr was born in the Minya province of the southern Egypt on 28 February 1926.[2] He graduated from police academy in 1946.[3]

Career

Badr began his career as a police officer in 1947.[2] He served as the governor of Asyut in the Upper Egypt.[4][5] He also served in the ministry of interior during the term of Nabawi Ismail and was in charge of the central region of Minya.[6] He was the key man in the Egyptian government's struggle against the underground extremists cells.[7] He took strong measures on Asyut when extremists rioted in the city after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in October 1981.[7]

Minister of Interior

Badr was appointed interior minister on 27 February 1986, replacing Ahmed Rushdi in the post.[8][9][10] Shortly after his appointment Badr fired or transferred hundreds of security officials from March to August 1986.[11] He was the most disliked man in the cabinet due to his hardliner approach against Islamic "fundamentalist" movements.[3] He confronted nearly all groups in the society in order to achieve the regime's goal of eliminating Islamist militant entities in Egypt.[12]

Badr also toughly struggled against drug trafficking, black market currency speculation and extremism during his term.[3] On the other hand, human rights activists in Egypt criticized him for the violations of civil liberties,[13] since his brutal policies were experienced everywhere in the country, including the universities.[4] Badr ordered the arrest for the relatives of the fugitive Islamic Group leaders.[14] These people were tortured at Ain Shams police station and the state security intelligence department in Lazughli.[14] This event was one of the triggers of the assassination attempt against Badr in 1989.[14] However, Badr was a frequent and respectful guest at gatherings of Copts who supported his iron fist.[15]

Badr was sacked by the President Hosni Mubarak in January 1990[3] and replaced by Abdul Halim Moussa in the post.[16] No explanation was given for the dismissal of Badr.[17] However, a scandal he had been involved was the reason for his removal.[1] On the other hand, Najib Ghadbian regards Badr's removal as one of three steps towards democracy in Egypt occurred in 1990.[18]

Assassination attempt

During his term as interior minister on 16 December 1989, Badr became the target of an assassination attempt when a Suzuki pickup truck loaded with gunpowder exploded in a Cairo suburb seconds before his motorcade was to pass.[19][20] He survived the attack,[21] and nobody was hurt in the blast.[22] The driver of the truck, a 24-year-old medical student named Youssef Hasan Mahmoud, was arrested while trying to escape the scene.[19][20] The perpetrators were the members of the Islamic Group whose relatives had been arrested and tortured earlier, including Ayman Zawahiri.[14][19]

Controversy

When he was interior minister, Badr referred to Islamist extremists as "mad dogs, with all respect to dogs."[17] In 1994, Badr and his successor as interior minister Abdul Halim Moussa accused each other of corruption and wrongdoing.[23][24]

Personal life and death

Badr was married and had two sons.[2] One of his sons, Ahmad Zaki, was appointed minister of education by Hosni Mubarak in 2010.[25] His family founded a charitable foundation, the Zaki Badr Foundation, in the United States.[26]

Badr died at a hospital in the United States on 2 April 1997.[21][26]

References
  1. Neil Hicks (20–22 May 2005). "Problems confronting human rights defenders: New pressure coming from states" (PDF). International Council on Human Rights Policy. Lahore. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. "Zaki Badr, 71, Egyptian Official who Opposed Islamic Militants". The New York Times. p. 28.
  3. Michael Collins Dunn (March 1990). "The Fall of Zaki Badr: A Victory For Egypt's Opposition Press". Washington Report. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  4. Hesham Al Awadi (2005). In Pursuit of Legitimacy: The Muslim Brothers and Mubarak, 1982-2000. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-85043-632-4.
  5. Ami Ayalon, ed. (1995). Middle East Contemporary Survey: 1993. Vol. 17. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813324333.
  6. Omar Hassanein (16 June 2009). "Most Controversial Interior Minister Nabawi Ismail Passes Away". Almasry Alyoum. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  7. John Kifner (26 July 1987). "Cairo, in shift, follows Islamic trend". The New York Times. p. 3.
  8. Gehad Auda (2004). "The "Normalization" of the Islamic Movement in Egypt from the 1970s to the Early 1990s". In Martin E. Marty; R. Scott Appleby (eds.). Accounting for Fundamentalisms: The Dynamic Character of Movements. London: University of Chicago Press. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-226-50886-3.
  9. "Hosni Mobarak Fires Top Cabinet Minister". The Durant Daily Democrat. Cairo. UPI. 28 February 1986. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  10. Michael Ross (1 March 1986). "Egyptian Army Storms Mutineers' Camp". Los Angeles Times. Cairo. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  11. Hazem Kandil (2012). Soldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt's Road to Revolt. London; New York: Verso Books. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-84467-961-4.
  12. Ahmed Abdalla (January–February 1991). "Mubarak's Gamble". Mer 168. 21.
  13. "Egypt: The penal system". Country Data. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  14. Laura Mansfield (2006). His Own Words: Translation and Analysis of the Writings of Dr. Ayman Al Zawahiri. TLG publications. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-84728-880-6.
  15. Alan Cowell (25 December 1989). "Coptic Monasteries Flourish in Egypt". The New York Times. p. 4.
  16. "Abdel Halim Moussa, 73; Egyptian Official Reached Out to Rebels". Los Angeles Times. 22 July 2003. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  17. Alan Cowell (13 January 1990). "Cairo Ousts Hard-Line Interior Minister". The New York Times. p. 3.
  18. Najib Ghadbian (1997). Democratization and the Islamist Challenge in the Arab World. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-3671-6014-2.
  19. Caryle Murphy (2002). Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience. New York: Scribner. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7432-3743-7.
  20. Edward F. Mickolus (2009). The Terrorist List: The Middle East. Vol. 1: A-K. Praeger. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-313-35768-8.
  21. "Zaki Badr, 71, Former Egyptian Minister, Opposed to Militants". The Morning Call. Cairo. AP. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  22. "Egypt Interior Minister Unhurt in Bomb Blast". Los Angeles Times. Cairo. 17 December 1989. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  23. Robert Fisk (21 February 1994). "Algeria's past may be Egypt's future". The Independent. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  24. Cassandra (Winter 1995). "The Impending Crisis in Egypt". Middle East Journal. 49 (1): 19. doi:10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_SIM220070012.
  25. "Mubarak remnants still suffocate the Academic Freedoms" (Press release). ANHRI. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  26. "About Us". The Zaki Badr Foundation. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
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