Thirty years ago today, former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated while receiving salute during a victory parade in Cairo to commemorate Egypt’s crossing of the Suez Canal.
Sadat was at that time protected by four layers of security and eight bodyguards, and the army parade should have been safe due to ammunition-seizure rules.
As Egyptian Air Force Mirage jets flew overhead, distracting the crowd, Egyptian army soldiers and troop trucks paraded. One troop truck contained the assassination squad, led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli. As the truck passed, the assassins dismounted, and Islambouli approached Sadat.
Sadat stood to receive his salute, whereupon, Islambouli threw three grenades at Sadat, only one of which exploded. Additional assassins rose from the truck, firing assault rifles into the stands. After Sadat was hit and fell to the ground, people threw chairs around him to protect him from the hail of bullets. He died from bullet wounds to his aorta though he also had intestinal and neck wounds.
The attack lasted about two minutes. Apart from Sadat, 11 others were killed, including the Cuban ambassador, an Omani general, and a Coptic Orthodox bishop. Twenty-eight were wounded, including Vice President Hosni Mubarak, Irish Defence Minister James Tully, and four US military liaison officers.
Security forces were momentarily stunned but reacted within seconds. One of the attackers was killed, and the three others injured and arrested. Sadat was rushed to a hospital where 11 doctors operated on him, but was pronounced dead within hours.
In conjunction with the assassination, an insurrection was organised in Asyut in Upper Egypt. Rebels took control of the city for a few days and 68 policemen and soldiers were killed in the fighting. Government control was not restored until paratroopers from Cairo got into the scene.
Most of the militants convicted of fighting received light sentences and served only three years in prison. Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli was tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad in April 1982.
Sadat was buried in the Unknown Soldier Memorial, located in the Nasr City district of Cairo.
Former US President Jimmy Carter announced the results of the Camp David Accords on September 18, 1978. The Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Washington, on March 26, 1979, following a series of meetings between Egypt and Israel facilitated by Mr Carter.
Both Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the treaty. In his acceptance speech, Sadat referred to the long awaited peace desired by both Arabs and Israelis.
The main features of the agreement were the mutual recognition of each country by the other, the cessation of the state of war that had existed since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the complete withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the rest of the Sinai Peninsula which Israel had captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways. The agreement notably made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel has remained in effect since the treaty was signed.
In 1979, the Arab League expelled Egypt in the wake of the peace agreement, and the League moved its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis. Arab League member states believed in the elimination of the Zionist Entity and Israel at that time. It was not until 1989 that the League re-admitted Egypt as a member and returned its headquarters to Cairo.