Omar Suleiman Maher Abbas Saudi Gazette CAIRO – Egypt will bid farewell to its former spy chief and vice president Maj. Gen. Omar Suleiman with a military funeral in Cairo Saturday. The funeral prayer is scheduled to take place at Aal Rashdan Mosque in Nasr City, east of Cairo, amid tight security. Suleiman died Thursday of a heart attack aged 76. He had been undergoing medical tests at Cleveland Clinic in the United States. Suleiman had checked into the clinic Monday and the disease was discovered after he underwent multiple tests. Suleiman was fallen Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's last deputy and one of his most trusted advisers. A private plane carrying his body was expected to arrive in Cairo overnight, his personal aide, Gen.Hussein Kamal, told the official MENA news agency. The former general had reportedly suffered from a rare lung disease for several months, after which he developed heart problems. However, there had been several rumors about Suleiman's health. His last public appearance was during his failed bid to run in Egypt's presidential polls in May. His nomination papers were rejected due to technical reasons. Sources close to the family said they expect a large number of Arab politicians and diplomats to be present to pay last respects to the former vice president. There will be tight security at the funeral, which is expected to be attended by representatives of President Mohamed Morsi and Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Military Council, as well as his military colleagues. Morsi sent his condolences to Suleiman's family Thursday immediately after the announcement of his death. For almost two decades, Suleiman ran the feared and powerful General Intelligence Service, wielding immense power that was used to crush dissent, particularly from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups. He was well respected in the United States, with whom he partnered to orchestrate a series of short-lived truces between Israel and the Palestinians. Born on July 2, 1935 to a well-off family in the southern town of Qena, Suleiman graduated from Cairo's military academy in 1955. He received military training in the former Soviet Union, and was for years a highly enigmatic figure both to the world at large and at home in Egypt, where the all-powerful military's activities are shrouded in secrecy. The death of “Egypt's black box", the state-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper said Friday. Suleiman increasingly acquired a public face in recent years, being tipped even before the uprising as a potential successor to Mubarak. Suleiman was appointed vice president during the last days of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak's regime in a bid to placate protesters. Less than two weeks later, on Feb. 11, 2011, he would give a brief television address to announce Mubarak's resignation. Suleiman left Egypt after his failed bid to run in the presidential polls.
