biography
| name: |
Nasser, Gamal Abdel
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1918–70)
|
| biography:
| Egyptian statesman, prime minister (1954–6), and president (1956–70), born in Alexandria, N Egypt. An army officer, he became dissatisfied with the corruption of the Farouk regime, and was the prime mover in the Free Officers' coup of 1952. He assumed the premiership in 1954, and then presidential powers, deposing his fellow officer, General Mohammed Neguib. Officially elected president in 1956, he nationalized the Suez Canal, which prompted Britain and France to seek his forcible overthrow, gaining Israeli co-operation in the invasion of Sinai. In 1958 he created a federation with Syria (the United Arab Republic), but Syria withdrew in 1961. After the six-day Arab–Israeli War (1967), heavy losses on the Arab side led to his resignation, but he was persuaded to stay on, and died still in office. |
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