Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Sami Hafez Anan or Enan ( ar, سامى حافظ عنان, ; born 2 February 1948) is an Egyptian military officer. He was the
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States)
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Af ...
of the Armed Forces from 2005 until August 2012, until his retirement was announced by President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 20122018 Egyptian presidential election before being arrested for violating the military rules for announcing his candidacy without seeking the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces approval, which "constituted clear incitement against the armed forces with the intention of driving a wedge between it and the great Egyptian people." He was also accused of forging documents to falsely indicate his military service was terminated. He was released on 22 December 2019.
Early career
He commanded a brigade from 1992. From 1990 to 1993 he was the Egyptian
Defence Attaché
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense indust ...
to Morocco. From 1996 to 1998 he reportedly commanded the
5th Air Defence Division
Fifth is the Ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 5, five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth ...
. More recently he served as the Commander of the
Egyptian Air Defence Forces
The Egyptian Air Defence Forces or EADF ( ar, قوات الدفاع الجوي, Quwwat El-Difa' El-Gawwi), is the Anti-aircraft warfare branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is responsible for protecting the Egyptian airspace a ...
2011 Egyptian Revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
began in January 2011, Anan was in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
"for a week of meetings with senior American officers". Cutting his visit short, he returned to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
on 28 January. As the commander of an army of 468,000 troops, he was considered likely to play a crucial role in the political uncertainty surrounding the protests. On 1 February 2011, the UK's
Channel 4 News
''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982.
Current productions
''Channel 4 News''
''Channel 4 News'' ...
reported that the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
was pressing for Anan to play a role in coordinating interim arrangements for government in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
after
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
.
As the protests built momentum into their second week, there was considerable speculation whether Enan, on one hand, was "'too close to Mubarak to stay,' er ...
Gawdat Bahgat
Gawdat Bahgat (born 1960s) is a professor of political science at the National Defense University. Bahgat was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt and earned degrees at Cairo University and American University in Cairo. He emigrated to the United Sta ...
, a professor at
National Defense University
The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...
in Washington who has worked extensively with Egyptian officers attending the school," or, on the other, "a trusted partner. Retired Army Lt. Gen.
R. Steven Whitcomb
R. Steven Whitcomb (born January 31, 1948) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the University of Virginia in 1970. In his final assignment he served as Inspector Gene ...
, who oversaw joint exercises with the Egyptian military while stationed in the Middle East, invited Enan and his wife to his home at Fort McPherson in Atlanta for a private dinner in 2007. According to Whitcomb, Enan complained about the effect that budget cuts were having on the military as the Mubarak administration dealt with political and economic problems."
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is the body of 18 senior military men, including Anan, to which the power to govern was handed by departing President Mubarak on 11 February 2011. Only
Hussein Tantawi
Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman ( ar, محمد حسين طنطاوي سليمان, ; 31 October 1935 – 21 September 2021) was an Egyptian field marshal and politician. He was the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and, as chairman ...
ranked ahead of Anan on the armed forces website and in the Council at that time, according to
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
.
Assessing U.S. views of Anan thereafter, particularly by way of the
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
releases, ''The Guardian'' newspaper saw Anan "as more amenable to personal ties" than the older, change-resistant and standoffish Tantawi. Also, the story said, the Muslim Brotherhood "has described
nan
Nan or NAN may refer to:
Places China
* Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China
* Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China
Thailand
* Nan Province
** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province
* Nan River
People Given name
...
as incorruptible and as one of its cleric put it: 'He can be the future man of Egypt … I think he will be acceptable.'" As the newspaper saw it, this gave the "Soviet-trained" general an unusual span of support in the post-Mubarak government". On 12 August 2012, President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
. On 2 October 2012, the Egyptian public prosecutor announced that Anan would be investigated for corruption, the first such investigation against a military figure.
Elections
Anan formed the Arabism Egypt Party in 2014, which ran in the Egyptian 2015 parliamentary election.
Anan accepted his nomination from the Egypt Arabist Democratic party to run for the March 2018 Egyptian presidential election while his attention to be presented to elections where known one week before his announcement by the spokesman of Anan and the director of his campaign abroad
Mahmoud Refaat
Mahmoud Refaat (Arabic: محمود رفعت, romanized: Mahmood Rifaat; born April 25, 1978) is an international relations scholar (president of the European Institute for International Law and International Relations), writer, and lawyer.
...
, who announced it on his Twitter account on 16 of January 2018. The international lawyer
Mahmoud Refaat
Mahmoud Refaat (Arabic: محمود رفعت, romanized: Mahmood Rifaat; born April 25, 1978) is an international relations scholar (president of the European Institute for International Law and International Relations), writer, and lawyer.
...
also renounced accusations of Anan and accused the regime of attempt of assassination of Anan.
Egyptian Armed Forces
The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptia ...