Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Sami Hafez Anan (, ; born 27 February 1948) is a retired Egyptian military officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces from 2005 until August 2012 when 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, though he was arrested and later released.

Early career

He commanded a brigade from 1992. From 1990 to 1993 he was the Egyptian Defence Attaché to Morocco. From 1996 to 1998 he reportedly commanded the 5th Air Defence Division. More recently he served as the Commander of the Egyptian Air Defence Forces from 2001 to 2005. He served as Deputy Chairman of the

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; , ', also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a Statutory authority, statutory body of between 20 and 25 Senior officer, senior Officer (armed forces), officers of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and ...

2011 events

When the

2011 Egyptian Revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

began in January 2011, Anan was in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

"for a week of meetings with senior American officers". Cutting his visit short, he returned to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was pressing for Anan to play a role in coordinating interim arrangements for government in

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 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

. 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, a professor at

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

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, 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

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 ranked ahead of Anan on the armed forces website and in the Council at that time, according to

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

. Assessing U.S. views of Anan thereafter, particularly by way of the

United States diplomatic cables leak An incident, commonly referred to as Cablegate, began on 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around ...

, ''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 The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

"has described nanas 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 2012 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

. 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 by the Arabism Egypt Party to run for the March 2018 Egyptian presidential election. Anan was arrested for violating the military rules for announcing his candidacy without seeking the

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.

References

External links

Chief of Staff
at the

Egyptian Armed Forces The Egyptian Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Egypt, Arab Republic of Egypt. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces directs (a) Egyptian Army forces, (b) the Egyptian Navy, (c) Egyptian Air Force and (d) Egyptian Air Defense Forces. ...

*
Biography
at silobreaker.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Anan, Sami 1948 births Living people Egyptian generals Members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Egyptian expatriates in Morocco Candidates for President of Egypt People from Dakahlia Governorate Chiefs of the General Staff (Egypt)