Mahmoud el-Sisi

Mahmoud el-Sisi
Deputy Head of General Intelligence Directorate
Assumed office
June 2018
PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi
Personal details
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Parents
Military service
Rank Brigadier general

Mahmoud Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi (Arabic: محمود عبد الفتاح سعيد حسين خليل السيسي; born 1982)[1] is the deputy head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate and the son of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.[2]

Biography

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Mahmoud is the oldest son of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his wife Entissar Amer, who are cousins. He is a graduate of the Egyptian Military Academy. He was a major in the Military Intelligence, then in June 2018 he rose to the rank of brigadier general, and was appointed deputy head of General Intelligence, after he was head of the agency's technical office, under the leadership of Major General Abbas Kamel.[1][2][3] Mohamed Ali, the building contractor whose online videos criticising president el-Sisi sparked off the September 2019 Egyptian protests claimed that Mahmoud el-Sisi was the de facto real head of the Mukhabarat.[4]

L'Espresso linked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's son Mahmoud el-Sisi to the murder of Giulio Regeni, stating that "It is hard to think that el-Sisi's son was not aware of Regeni's movements before he disappeared."[5]

On 20 November 2019, two GIS officials interviewed by Mada Masr stated that Mahmoud was to be shifted from GIS to the Military Intelligence agency and assigned to a diplomatic position in Moscow in 2020.[6] The reason cited for the move and attributed to people close to president el-Sisi was a "negative impact on [president el-Sisi's] image" resulting from Mahmoud's alleged ineffectiveness in his responsibilities and visible role in high-level decision-making. The reason attributed to senior United Arab Emirates government officials is that they saw Mahmoud's role as "damaging to the president". Regional and international media attention to Mahmoud's role was cited as significantly harming president el-Sisi's image and threatening the "stability of the administration". The proposed move was "welcomed" by Russian authorities.[6] In response to Mada Masr's report, Mada Masr journalist Shady Zalat was detained by Egyptian security services for a day and a half; 18 Mada Masr staff, freelancers and foreign journalists were detained incommunicado inside the journal's office for several hours on 24 November; three were briefly detained; and laptops and telephones were confiscated.[7][8] Chief Editor Lina Attalah described the preparation of the report as having had "every single detail [confirmed] by at least two separate sources — and when it came to some details, as many as four".[7]

Personal life

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He is married to Noha Al-Tohami, the daughter of Farid Al-Tohamy, the former head of the General Intelligence and Administrative Control Authority.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Egypt: Mahmoud al-Sisi, cut from the same cloth as his father". The Africa Report. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Egypt activist Wael Ghonim's brother ordered to remain in custody". Al Jazeera English. 22 September 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Special Report: How Egypt's president tightened his grip". Reuters. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  4. ^ Ayesh, Mohammad (16 October 2019). "Mohamed Ali: Sisi and family toured new palace as Cairo burned". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Sisi son 'may have had role in Regeni case' - Espresso". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b "President's eldest son, Mahmoud al-Sisi, sidelined from powerful intelligence position to diplomatic mission in Russia". Mada Masr. 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b Attalah, Lina (28 November 2019). "A few things you might like to know about us". Mada Masr. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Plainclothes security raid Mada Masr office for several hours, detain 3 including Chief Editor Lina Attalah". Mada Masr. 24 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  9. ^ "ما لا تعرفه عن أسرة الرئيس السيسي بعد الظهور الأول". Al-Masry Al-Youm. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.