TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/caps/81/81.31

Text File | 1992-09-25 | 4KB | 77 lines

                                                                                October 19, 1981

SADAT

A Faithful Pupil Takes Over


Out of the shadow, a hand-picked successor


It may have been, as Anwar Sadat would have believed, the hand
of fate that brutally tore him from the world stage. That same
hand narrowly bypassed Sadat's most attentive pupil and
long-chosen successor, who was at the President's side when the
bullets slammed into the reviewing stand. Hosni Mubarak, 53,
Egypt's Vice President since Sadat picked him for the post in
1975, emerged from the assault with no more than a bandaged left
hand as a memento of his narrow escape.

Mubarak's accession to the presidency this week fulfills two of
Sadat's chief wishes; to see his policies continued, and one day
to leave power to a member of Egypt's "October Generation," the
men in uniform who helped regain Egyptian self-esteem by their
initial victories in the 1973 October War. Sadat had first met
Mubarak in the Sinai town of El Arish in 1950; impressed by the
young air force officer, the President remembered his name two
decades later while searching for a commander for his air force.

Mubarak got the job and won plaudits in 1973 for his handling
of the air battle against Israel's superior, U.S.-equipped air
force. Two years later Sadat named Mubarak, a man from the
President's home province of Menoufia, to the vice-presidency,
a decision that surprised virtually everyone, including the
appointee.

Despite three pilot-training tours in the Soviet Union, Mubarak
is outspokenly anti-Communist and contemptuous of the Soviet
military equipment on which Egypt relied until 1973. (He once
told Sadat that the Egyptian air force would not accept MiG-23
fighters, "even if the Russians give them to us free.")  He
shares Sadat's instinctive, pro-Western orientation. Mubarak's
wife of 21 years, Suzanne, is of both British and Egyptian
descent; she is a social sciences graduate of the American
University of Cairo. Mubarak's two sons, Alaa, 20, and Gamal,
17, are American University students.

Where Mubarak differs from Sadat is in his approach to problem
solving, a pragmatist is taking the place of a prophet. Says a
Western diplomat who knows both men well:  "Sadat was the
pioneer and innovator. Mubarak will be the consolidator."  The
President-designate has had 6 1/2 years to study his new role,
with Sadat as his intimate mentor. Sadat's visitors became
accustomed to seeing the stocky, taciturn Mubarak sitting near
the President, quietly taking notes. Whenever Sadat had
one-on-one meetings, as at Camp David, he later briefed Mubarak
minutely. "There was nothing he did or said that I did not
know," say Mubarak.

That closeness, that life in the President's shadow earned
Mubarak mocking nicknames of "Sadat's Sadat," "court jester" and
"empty face' among Egyptian critics. As one disgruntled
parliamentarian put it before last week's tragedy:  "Someone
should tell Sadat that there are more than 40 million other
Egyptians who should have something to say about who will be
President."  Nonetheless, U.S. officials who have dealt with
Mubarak rate him highly. He has been "carefully tutored," says
one, with emphasis. Notes a Washington analyst:  "A lot of
Egyptian politicians have fallen by the wayside during the Sadat
era, but Mubarak has come out on top."

The most telling compliment to Mubarak's abilities came from
Sadat himself. Mubarak chaired cabinet meetings in Sadat's
absence, held sweeping authority on national security matters
and conducted important diplomatic missions abroad. "I know he
will approve," Mubarak used to say, when he would authorize an
action. "I will tell him about it later."  The ultimate
approval is now Mubarak's.