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Former Egypt president Hosni Mubarak dead

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt's peace with Israel, has died at the age of 91.
FILE PHOTO: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak © REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

FILE PHOTO: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak © REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who for nearly 30 years was the resolute face of stability in the Middle East, has died, the country's state television says.

He was 91.

Throughout his rule, he was a stalwart US ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt's peace with Israel.

But to the tens of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied for 18 days of unprecedented street protests in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mubarak was a relic, a latter-day pharaoh.

They were inspired by the Tunisian revolt, and harnessed the power of social media to muster tumultuous throngs, unleashing popular anger over the graft and brutality that shadowed his rule.

In the end, with millions massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square and city centres around the country and even marching to the doorstep of Mubarak's palace, the military that long nurtured him pushed him aside on February 11, 2011.

The generals took power, hoping to preserve what they could of the system he headed.

Though Tunisia's president fell before him, the ouster of Mubarak was the more stunning collapse in the face of the Arab Spring shaking regimes across the Arab world.

He became the only leader so far ousted in the protest wave to be imprisoned.

He was convicted along with his former security chief on June 2012 and sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of some 900 protesters during the 18-day who rose up against his autocratic regime in 2011.

Both appealed the verdict and a higher court later cleared them in 2014.

The acquittal stunned many Egyptians, thousands of whom poured into central Cairo to show their anger against the court.

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

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