Sadat's last minister of information dies

Egypt’s former minister of information under President Anwar El Sadat, Mansour Hassan, died Saturday. Hassan, who was also head of the Advisory Council formed in September 2011 by the then Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), spent years in the political shade, but returned to political life after the January 25 Revolution. In March 2012, Hassan announced that he would run for the presidency and was seen at the time as consensual candidate agreed upon by SCAF, the Muslim Brotherhood and various political currents. The liberal Wafd Party quickly endorsed Hassan as its candidate. However, the 75-year-old politician gave up on the idea after the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, announced it would not support a candidate above 60 years old and the Wafd witnessed internal disputes about granting Hassan a ticket to the presidential race. Hassan said "internal conflicts” between political entities who announced backing his presidential bid was the reason for his withdrawal. Hassan, who came from a middle class family in Sharqiya governorate, was appointed minister of culture and information by President Sadat in 1979. In 1981, he resigned his post in protest at widescale arrests authorised by Sadat against opposition figures. From: Ahram Online