E. Kamel Ibrahim

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General E. Kamel Ibrahim

Before his appointment on 13th May 1985 as Military Attache, his exact role was denied by The Office of The Egyptian Presidency. General Ibrahim has been responsible for the physical and psychological training of the most elite Egyptian Regiment, Al Sa'Ka Regiment (now Unit 777). He is known in the Armies of The United States and The United Kingdom for being Military Attache.

His name is associated with many myths in the Egyptian Army, many of which relate to his father, the former Quartet Master of the Army. He is credited with restoring order to the town of Al Shabah in Southern Egypt in 1958, when as a Lieutenant Colonel, he shot a teenager at point-blank range to bring the town under control after Christian-Muslim relations broke down. The Egyptian President granted General Ibrahim his fourth Star. After the six day war, General Ibrahim was awarded his fifth star and named Honorary Field Marshal. He went on to largely diplomatic activities but retained his title of Honorary Joint Chief of Staff.

In the Six day war, he led an elite mortar brigade which secured mountain strongholds behind enemy lines. This operation, which General Ibrahim failed to clear with his superiors for fear they would reject it, is still considered to be the best example of close-quarter fighting in modern military history. His book on Military Strategy - The Benefits of Small Arms in Large Scale Conflicts - is standard reading for many Commando Regiments in the World, including the US Navy Seals and The Royal Marines of the United Kingdom.

He has been condemned for many acts of oppression in Egypt. These include urban myths that, after the Six day war, he asked his Commanding Officer to personally condemn to death all mutineers in the Armed Forces. He is also associated with the Egyptian Secret Service, and is blamed for the assassination of a number of Egyptian Born Israeli Spies in London and Europe.

His fight against the surge in the Islamic Brotherhood movement in Egypt has brought him most into the media spotlight in Egypt. In 1998 and again in 2003 a group of Islamic scholars have tried to bring charges against General Ibrahim with respect to the alleged illegal arrest and execution of over 100 members of the Islamic Brotherhood. In both cases, the Supreme Court ruled that the case could not be heard both because subversive to the state and because charges may not be brought against an Egyptian Citizen who holds the rank of Field Marshal. In order for charges to be brought against a Field Marshal, the Commander in Chief must hear the case in private first. The President has in both cases ruled that it would not be in the national interest to do so.

General Ibrahim is known to have close ties with the Egyptian President, though the Office of The Egyptian President publicly denies that the government consults General Ibrahim on matters of state subversion.

His personal motto has been engraved on the eminent Military School in Cairo - 'Speed is the most lethal weapon'.

General Ibrahim has been honored by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Westpoint Military Academy.

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