Egypt’s First Lady mourns death of former military production minister’s widow

CAIRO – 16 October 2020: Egypt’s First Lady Entissar Amer has mourned the death of Safaa Al-Assar, the widow of the Former Minister of Military Production Mohamed Al-Assar who died in July this year.

“We have lost a great Egyptian lady,” Amer said in a Facebook post.

Who is Assar?

Assar, 74, took part in the War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel in 1968-1970 and then October War against Israel in Sinai in 1973, as part of the engineering body to repair air defense rockets.

He served in multiple leadership position, including president of the Armed Forces Arming Authority, assistant defense minister for armament affairs and advisor to the defense minister for technical research and foreign affairs.

After the January 25 revolution, Assar became a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces headed by the defense minister. He was also present at a conference on July 3, 2013 held by incumbent President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, then minister of defense, where the latter announced ousting Mohamed Morsi, then president, after millions of people protested against him.

Assar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Military Technical College and a Master’s and PhD in Electrical Engineering.

Through his professional path, Assar was also granted the Order of the Republic, second class, the Medal of Military Duty, first class, the Medal of Distinguished Service, Medal of Long Service and Good Example and the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of merit.