death of akef man who transformed egypts muslim brotherhood
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Death of Akef, man who transformed Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Death of Akef, man who transformed Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Former Muslim Brotherhood head Mohammed Mahdi Akef
Cairo - Arab Today

Former Muslim Brotherhood head Mohammed Mahdi Akef, who has died in hospital aged 89, helped turn Egypt's Islamist movement into a major opposition force after spending much of his life behind bars.

His last spell in jail began in July 2013, after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and jailed his supporters and fellow Brotherhood members.

The Brotherhood's now dissolved Freedom and Justice Party once called Akef "one of the historical leaders of the Brotherhood", who served for more than 70 years.

Born in 1928 -- the year Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood -- Akef became deeply involved in it at a young age.

After leading its student section, the former physical education instructor joined the group's Guidance Bureau in the 1980s before being elected supreme guide in 2004, at the age of 76.

Under his leadership, the Brotherhood won 20 percent of parliamentary seats in 2005 elections, a major achievement for the then banned but tolerated movement.

It became the most organised opposition force against president Hosni Mubarak's regime, campaigning against police brutality, corruption and rampant inequality.

Mubarak was overthrown in 2011 after an 18-day uprising which initially the Brotherhood did not endorse, as it was planned by other groups.

But two days after larger than anticipated crowds showed up on January 25, the uprising's first day, the group announced its official participation -- prompting a swift round-up of its leaders.

Unlike his predecessors, who remained at the Brotherhood helm until their death, Akef retired after a single six-year term.

A representative of the conservative old guard known for his blunt speech, Akef often provoked controversy. For him, Israel was "a cancer to root out" and the Holocaust a "myth".

Akef spent more than 26 years in regime prisons.

After a failed assassination attempt against pan-Arabist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1954, he was arrested and sentenced to life in jail.

He was released 20 years later, when the new president, Anwar Sadat, was seeking Islamists' support to gain legitimacy and weaken the left-wing.

Akef was appointed to a post in the reconstruction ministry.

In the 1980s, he left to Saudi Arabia and Germany, where he ran an Islamic centre in Munich.

On his return, he joined the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau in 1987 and was elected to parliament.

But he was again sentenced to three years by a military court in 1996, this time under Mubarak.

Detained again after Morsi's ouster, he was sentenced to life for his alleged role in the death of 12 anti-Brotherhood protesters who tried to attack the movement's Cairo headquarters in June 2013.

The Court of Cassation overturned that verdict and ordered a new trial that left him behind bars. Ten months before his death, Akef had been transferred from jail to hospital in Cairo for cancer treatment.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

death of akef man who transformed egypts muslim brotherhood death of akef man who transformed egypts muslim brotherhood

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

death of akef man who transformed egypts muslim brotherhood death of akef man who transformed egypts muslim brotherhood

 



GMT 20:53 2018 Monday ,22 October

PM Imran Khan to leave for Saudi Arabia today

GMT 08:20 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Lamborghini races to new sales record

GMT 00:19 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Switzerland chainsaw attack: 5 hurt in Schaffhausen

GMT 09:51 2017 Tuesday ,07 November

Broadcom makes $130 bn mega-bid

GMT 20:53 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Syrian forces retake Aleppo water-pumping station

GMT 11:15 2017 Monday ,01 May

Hanan Metawe reveals details of her accident

GMT 03:07 2017 Monday ,27 March

Bulgaria's Borisov bounces back again

GMT 22:18 2017 Thursday ,16 November

Hariri to arrive in France Saturday to meet Macron

GMT 06:43 2017 Monday ,13 February

Pakistan retaliates after US denies politician visa

GMT 07:49 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Hussein Fahmy underlines financial sources
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday