Ahmed Gamal El Din (born 11 November 1952) is a retired police general and Egypt's former minister of interior. He served in the Qandil cabinet.
Early life and education
El Din was born on 11 November 1952 in Gharbiya Province, Egypt.
Abdel Ahad Gamal El Din Abdel Ahad Gamal El-Din is an Egyptian academic and politician.
Career
He is a member of the Pan-African Parliament from Egypt. He is also Chairman of the Committee on International Humanitarian Law in the People's Assembly of Egypt, People's Assem ...
, who was one of the major members of the National Democratic Party (NDP) during the Mubarak era, is his uncle. More specifically, elder El Din served as the parliamentary majority leader of the ruling NDP during the 2000s.
El Din graduated from the Police Academy in 1974. He holds a license in law and policing.
Career
El Din is a retired security officer with the rank of major general. He was conscripted in the Army in 1971 in a mechanized infantry regiment and served in the 1973 War as a commander of a rifle platoon. After the war, he completed his education in the Police College and was commissioned as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in 1974. He served in the Egyptian security services during the 1980s and 1990s. Then he became the head of security in the provinces of
South Sinai
South Sinai Governorate ( ar, محافظة جنوب سيناء ') is the least populated governorate of Egypt. It is located in the east of the country, encompassing the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula. Saint Catherine's Monastery, an Easte ...
and Upper Egypt Assiut. He is also the former director of the public security authority, responsible for gathering information. In 2011, he was named as deputy minister for general security and head of public security by former interior minister Mansour El Esawy and continued to serve at both posts during the tenure of Mohamed Ibrahim, the next interior minister. His task in this post of deputy minister was to keep Egyptian streets safe. Ahmed Aboul Enein from ''
the Daily News Egypt
''Daily News Egypt'' (''DNE'') is an English-language daily Egyptian newspaper established in 2005 and relaunched in June 2012. Under former owner Egyptian Media Services, it was distributed with the ''International Herald Tribune'' as a suppl ...
'' claims that El Din was not successful in this regard. El Esawy also appointed Gamal El Din as the official spokesperson of the interior ministry, leading to criticisms due to the latter's being nephew of Abdel Ahad Gamal El Din.
El Din was appointed interior minister in August 2012, replacing Mohamed Ibrahim in the post. Following his appointment, the first statement of El Din was about a new law that would become a substitute to the emergency law cancelled in order to "stop criminals" and make the streets safer. In November 2012, he reshuffled about 100 leading positions in the ministry throughout the country. The reshuffle included 100 major police generals and nine security directorates, including
Gharbia Governorate
Gharbia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الغربية ', ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90 ...
,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...
and
Sohag
Sohag ( , ), also spelled as ''Sawhāj'', ''Suhag'' and ''Suhaj'', is a city on the west bank of the Nile in Egypt. It has been the capital of Sohag Governorate since 1960, before which the capital was Girga and the name of the governorate wa ...
. In addition to this, El Din established two divisions within the ministry: a human rights section headed by Major General Hussein Othman and a social communication sector headed by Major General Abu Bakr Abdel Karim. On 5 January 2013, El Din was replaced by Mohamed Ibrahim as interior minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
Criticism
The reshuffle in the interior ministry that was carried out by El Din in November 2012 led to objections. In addition, the
Strong Egypt Party
The Strong Egypt Party ( ar-at, حزب مصر القوية, Hizb Misr al-Qawia) is an Egyptian centrist political party founded in 2012 by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.
History
The Strong Egypt Party was established i ...
released a statement on 21 November 2012, at the beginning of the 2012 Egyptian protests, stating that President