Mohamed Heikal, one of Egypt’s most prolific political authors and a confidant of the country’s socialist president in the 1950s and 1960s who was later jailed by his successor, has died. He was 92.
State television said Heikal died on Wednesday in Cairo. Better known among Egyptians by his full name, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, he had recently suffered kidney problems that required weekly dialysis.
The popular author rose to prominence as a confidant and cabinet minister under Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s socialist and Arab nationalist president who ruled from 1954 until his death in 1970.
In this Sept. 23, 2014 photo, Mohamed Heikal poses for a picture on his 91st birthday, at his office, in Cairo, Egypt. (AP/Magdy Ebrahim, El Shorouk Newspaper)
His close friendship with Nasser cast Heikal in the role of a top authority on Egyptian politics and the region at a time when much of the Arab world was shaking off colonial European rule.
During his years as editor-in-chief of Cairo’s Al-Ahram daily, Heikal tampered Egyptians’ distrust of the country’s tightly controlled state media with his insider’s take on the country and the region in his eagerly awaited Friday column entitled “Frankly.”
After Sadat came to power, Heikal increasingly criticized his policies, including the peace deal with Israel. He was jailed in 1981 along with hundreds of others who opposed the peace agreement
He was released shortly after by Hosni Mubarak after Sadat’s assassination.
— AP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From 
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
