Sami Hafez Anan

Sami Hafez Anan
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of Egypt
In office 11 February 2011 – 30 June 2012
Chairman	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi
Preceded by	Omar Suleiman (Vice President)
Succeeded by	Sedki Sobhi
Chief of the General Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces
In office 2005 – 12 August 2012
President	Hosni Mubarak Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (Acting) Mohamed Morsi
Commander	Mohamed Hussein Tantawi
Preceded by	Hamdi Weheiba
Succeeded by	Sedki Sobhi
Commander of the Egyptian Air Defense Command
In office 19 July 2001 – 30 October 2005
President	Hosni Mubarak
Preceded by	Mohammed Elshahat
Succeeded by	Abd El Aziz Seif-Eldeen
Senior Advisor to the President
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 August 2012
President	Mohamed Morsi Adly Mansour (Acting)
Preceded by	Office Established
Personal details
Born	February 2, 1948 Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt
Religion	Sunni Islam
Awards	Merit Of distinguished service Medal of Long Service and Good Example
Military service
Allegiance	Egypt
Service/branch	Air Defense Forces
Years of service	1968–2012
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	SA-6 Missile Battery Commander (1973-76) Battalion Commander (1981-1985)SAM (SA-3)and (SA-6) Brigade Commander (1985-90) Defense Attaché in Morocco (1990-1993) Brigade Commander (1993-1996) Air Defense Forces Division Commander (1996-1998) Chief of Air Defense Forces operation department (1998-2001) Air Defense Forces Commander-in-Chief (2001-2005) Chief of Staff of Egyptian Armed Forces (2005-2012)
Battles/wars	War of Attrition Yom Kippur War Sinai War on Terror

Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Anan or Enan (Arabic: سامى حافظ عنان‎‎, IPA: [ˈsæːmi ˈħɑːfezˤ ʕæˈnæːn, -ʕeˈnæːn]; born 1948) is an Egyptian military officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces until his retirement was announced by President Mohamed Morsi on 12 August 2012.^[1]

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. On 2 October 2012, the Egyptian public prosecutor announced that Anan would be investigated for corruption, the first such investigation against a military figure.^[2]

2011 events

When the 2011 Egyptian Revolution began in January 2011, Anan was in Washington "for a week of meetings with senior American officers".^[3] Cutting his visit short, he returned to Egypt on 28 January.^[3] 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.^[4] On 1 February 2011, the UK's Channel 4 News reported that the United States was pressing for Anan to play a role in coordinating interim arrangements for government in Egypt after Hosni Mubarak.^[5]

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,' [per ...] Gawdat Bahgat, a professor at National Defense University 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."^[6]

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 ranked ahead of Anan on the armed forces website and in the Council at that time, according to Al Jazeera.^[7]

Assessing U.S. views of Anan thereafter, particularly by way of the Wikileaks 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 [Anan] as incorruptible and as one of its cleric[s] 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".^[8]

Anan formed the Arabism Egypt Party in 2014,^[9] which will run in the Egyptian 2015 parliamentary election.^[10]

References

1. Egypt's Morsi fires defence minister Tantawi, Al Jazeera English, 12 August 2012.
2. النائب العام يحيل بلاغًا ضد الفريق سامي عنان إلى «الكسب غير المشروع» Al-Masry Al-Youm", October 2, 2012.
3. US-Egypt Military Relationship Might Impact Crisis, Voice of America, 31 January 2011
4. Lt-Gen Sami Anan will have the final say, The News International, January 30, 2011
5. Jonathan Rugman, Channel 4 News, 1 February 2011
6. Whitlock, Craig and Greg Jaffe, "Where Egypt military's loyalties lie remains unclear", Washington Post, February 4, 2011. Second Web page. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
7. "Who is in Egypt's High Military Council?", International Business Times, February 11, 2011 12:50 PM EST. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
8. Borger, Julian and James Ball, "WikiLeaks cables: Egyptian military head is 'old and resistant to change'", The Guardian, 14 February 2011 10.41 GMT. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
9. "Anan will officially declare new political party". Cairo Post. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
10. "حزب "سامى عنان": تقديم أوراق إشهارنا للجنة شئونالأحزاب خلال أيام". Youm7. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.

External links

• Chief of Staff at the Egyptian Armed Forces
• Sami Hafez Anan collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Biography at silobreaker.com