Ahmed Shafik: Difference between revisions

Ahmed Shafik أحمد شفيق
File:Ahmed-shafik.jpg
Prime Minister of Egypt
In office 31 January 2011 – 3 March 2011
President	Hosni Mubarak Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (Acting)
Preceded by	Ahmed Nazif
Succeeded by	Essam Sharaf
Minister of Civil Aviation
In office 18 September 2002 – 31 January 2011
Prime Minister	Atef Ebeid Ahmed Nazif
Preceded by	Ahmed Abdel Rahman Nasser
Succeeded by	Ibrahim Manaa
Commander of the Egyptian Air Force
In office 7 April 1996 – 1 March 2002
President	Hosni Mubarak
Preceded by	Ahmed Abdel Rahman Nasser
Succeeded by	Magdy Galal Sharawi
Personal details
Born	November 1941 (age 83) Cairo, Egypt
Political party	National Democratic Party
Alma mater	Egyptian Air Academy
Military service
Allegiance	Egypt
Branch/service	Egyptian Air Force
Years of service	1961–2002
Rank	Air Marshal
Battles/wars	Yemen War Six-Day War War of Attrition October War

Ahmed Mohamed Shafik (Template:Lang-ar, Template:IPA-arz; born November 1941)^{[citation needed]} is a former senior commander in the Egyptian Air Force and politician who served as Prime Minister of Egypt from January 2011 to March 2011.

After a career as a fighter pilot, squadron, wing and base commander, Shafik was the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force from 1996 to 2002, reaching the rank of air marshal. Thereafter he served in the government as Minister of Civil Aviation from 2002 to 2011.

He was appointed as Prime Minister by President Hosni Mubarak on January 29, 2011 in response to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.^[1] Amidst a rapidly changing political situation, he remained in office only for a month, resigning on 3 March 2011.

Shafik was born in Cairo in November 1941. After graduating from the Egyptian Air Academy in 1961, he joined the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) at the age of 20. Later in his career, he gained a master's degree in Military Sciences and a Ph.D. in the National Strategy of Outer-Space.^[2]

As a young officer, Shafik served as a fighter pilot and was later appointed as fighter air squadron commander. During the War of Attrition (1967–1970), Shafik saw active service as the Multi-Task Airwing Commander. Subsequently he took up a post as an air base commander.^[2]

During the 1973 October War, Shafik was a senior fighter pilot under Hosni Mubarak's command. It is believed that Shafik shot down two Israeli aircrafts during the war on October 14, 1973.^[3]

During his 40 years of service in the Egyptian Air Force as a fighter pilot, he flew several types of fighter jets including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and the Dassault Mirage 2000, he also acted as the wing commander for the Egyptian Air Force acrobatic team. He is also fully qualified on the American-built McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

In 1984 Shafik was appointed a military attaché in the Egyptian Embassy in Rome. He continued in this role until 1986. During 1988 to 1991, Shafik served several military senior command positions before he was appointed as the Commander of the Air Operations Department.^[2]

In September 1991, Shafik was appointed as the Air Force's Chief of Staff, holding this position until April 1996, when he became Commander of the Egyptian Air Force. In 2002, he was appointed as Minister of Civil Aviation and was succeeded by his chief of staff Air Marshal Magdy Galal Sharawi.^[2]

As a civil aviation minister, he tackled some of the major problems at the national carrier EgyptAir, upgraded Egyptian airports management and infrastructure and improved relations with domestic and international private operators and international regulatory authorities.

Shafik undertook an ambitious restructuring plan for EgyptAir and managed to achieve a turnaround in the company's performance. Egyptair became a Star Alliance member in 2008.

Shafik is also considered to have effectively modernized the Egyptian airports, transforming the Cairo International Airport into a regional hub through the inauguration of Terminal 3 in 2008 and bringing its annual capacity to 22 million passengers. Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport reached an annual capacity of 8 million passengers after opening Terminal 2.

In the course of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Shafik was named Prime Minister on January 29. However, his Premiership was to be short-lived, lasting just over a month, after he resigned on 3 March due to pressure from protestors and the opposition. They had objected to Shafik staying on as PM, having been seen as one of Mubarak's old guard.^[4] Shafik was alleged to have been a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that took over power after Mubarak's departure on February 11, 2011.^[5] Shafik was succeeded by Essam Sharaf after he stepped down.

On 10 July, Shafik made his first public appearance since resigning as Prime Minister. He attended the graduation ceremony of the Egyptian Air Force Academy class along with the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces.^[6]

• Air Force Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces
• Ahmed Shafik collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Ahmed Shafik: Tough, Al-Ahram Weekly, 10 - 16 February 2011

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