Anwar Sadat, The assassination of the Egyptian President

The Assassination of Anwar Sadat

Throughout public life, there was the killing, usually for political reasons, of public figures. Such murders were called assassinations. In the 11th century, a man named Hasan Sabbah founded a secret order of Muslims in Persia in about 1090. There, from the Islamic world, the adoption of assassination as a political weapon was derived. Hasan gained control of a fortress, developed a sect for political protection, and the secret organization terrorized the Middle East for two centuries.

Such organizations have spurred up over the world throughout history. In early October of 1981 Anwar Sadat, an Egyptian president, was assassinated while watching a military parade in Cairo. With marching troops passing by, agents under cover, and armed soldiers all around him, an attempt for an assassination was seemingly unthinkable. But the Muslim Fundamentalists had a plan, which would prove to work, and Sadat, nor his soldiers had any idea.

President Jimmy Carter welcomes Egyptian President...

English: President Anwar Sadat of Egypt upon his a...

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime M...

Their route of attack was the parade itself. Hidden within a Russian army truck, they approached and stopped at the reviewing stand where the unprepared president sat. Moments later, dressed as soldiers, four men including Khaled Islambouly, an army lieutenant, jumped from the vehicle and headed toward the podium. With the parade distractions, the attack was not quickly noticed. The attackers blended with the other soldiers and troops. Oblivious to the men meaning harm, Sadat saluted them as soldiers. Two of the men reached the stand with automatic weapons in hand and began firing, taking out eleven dignitaries, including Sadat.

The date was October 6, 1981, and the assassination of Anwar Sadat had come. More than 800 persons were arrested during investigations and two dozen were later determined for murder and conspiracy. Islambouly, the lieutenant, among four other men were sentenced to death. Seventeen others were sentenced...