Mubarak, Muhammad Hosni

Mubarak, Muhammad Hosni (hōs`nē mbə`rək), 1928–, president of Egypt (1981–). air force commander (1972–75) and vice president (1975–81), he became president after Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated on Oct. 6, 1981. Mubarak pledged to continue Sadat's policies, particularly the Camp David accords with Israel. He has, however, criticized many Israeli policies, and relations between the two nations were cooler in the late 1980s and much of the 1990s. Mubarak has sought to control Egypt's excessive population growth, combat economic problems, and contain trends toward fundamentalist Islam, but his authoritarian rule also has suppressed legitimate dissent and tolerated corruption. He was reelected in 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2005, the last time in a contested election marred by some irregularities and low turnout.