Omar Suleiman
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Lieutenant General Omar Suleiman (Arabic: عمر سليمان) (born 1936) is the Minister without portfolio chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Services (EGIS), the national intelligence agency of Egypt. He has been in office since 1993.
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[edit] Early Life and Education
Suleiman was born in Qena in Southern Egypt. He left Qena for Cairo in 1954, at the age of nineteen, to enroll in Egypt's prestigious Military Academy. He received additional military training in the former Soviet Union at Moscow's Frunze Military Academy. Furthermore, he holds bachelors and master degrees in Political Science from Ain Shams and Cairo Universities in the mid-1980s. Having distinguished himself as a brilliant military man, Suleiman was transferred to military intelligence, where he began what was to be a long relationship between Egypt and the United States.
[edit] Egyptian Intelligence Career
Establishing himself as a distinguished military man, he became the director of military intelligence in 1991.
[edit] Chief of Intelligence Office
Suleiman became the chief of Egyptian Intelligence in 1993. His name has become known only in the last years, breaking the tradition of keeping the name of the Egyptian head of Intelligence a secret known only to top government officials. It was released in the media around 2000. Suleiman has acquired a very public profile while trying to broker a deal between the different armed Palestinian groups vying for power in Gaza as the top presidential envoy from President Mubarak as well as brokering deals or truces between the Palestinians and Israel. His instrumental role in brokering many successful truces and deals on both fronts gave him the image of a powerful political figure in the Egyptian government as well as placing him on a high esteem to foreign governments such those of the Arab countries, Israel, the Palestinians and the United States.
[edit] Future Political Role
In the recent years, due to his powerful role in Regional political scene, many speculations rose to conclude that Suleiman will succeed current Egyptian president, Mubarak and become the fifth Egyptian President, or at least become a Vice President. Although many have voiced that these rumors are true due to many factors including power, respect amongst Arab leaders and Israel, neither Suleiman nor the National Democratic Party spoke of this or commented on any future political role for Suleiman. Despite this, he still remains a plausible presidential candidate, should the next president come from a military background.
