Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was overthrown in 2011 during the Arab Spring revolution has died at the age of 91, Egyptian state television said on Tuesday.
Mubarak who ruled from 1981 till 2011 was Egypt’s longest-serving ruler in more than a century. His tenure was said to have been autocratic.
The cause of Mubarak’s death was not stated but in January the former leader underwent surgery and had to stay in intensive care following the operation.
Mubarak was forced to step down in 2011 during the Arab Spring movement that swept the Middle East. The former Egyptian president was arrested two months after leaving office and sentenced to life in prison for allegedly ordering the killing of anti-government protesters – a charge he was cleared of in 2017.
Mubarak’s fall led to President Mohamed Mursi’s election in what has been deemed the first free and fair elections in Egypt’s political history.
Mubarak according to Egyptian state media died in a military hospital. He would be remembered for among other things, his speech upon leaving office:
“(Egypt) is where I lived; I fought for it and defended its soil, sovereignty and interests…On its soil, I will die. History will judge me like it did others.”
