Abdul Halim Moussa
{{Short description|Egyptian major general (1930–2003)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox Minister
| image =
| imagesize =
| office = Minister of Interior
| president = Hosni Mubarak
| primeminister =
| predecessor = Zaki Badr
| successor = Hassan Al Alfi
| term_start = January 1990
| term_end = 18 April 1993
| birth_date = {{circa}} 1930
| birth_place =
| death_date = 19 July 2003 (aged 73)
| restingplace =
| alma_mater = Police Academy
| spouse =
| nationality = Egyptian
| rank = Major General}}
Abdul Halim Moussa ({{langx|ar|عبد الحليم موسى}}; {{circa}} 1930 – 2003) was an Egyptian police major general and interior minister who was in office from 1990 to 1993.
Early life and education
Moussa was born around 1930. He graduated from the police academy in 1954.
Career and activities
Moussa served as a director of public security and held the rank of police major general.{{cite web|title=The Fall of Zaki Badr: A Victory for Egypt's Opposition Press|url=http://www.wrmea.org/wrmea-archives/125-washington-report-archives-1988-1993/march-1990/1070-the-fall-of-zaki-badr-a-victory-for-egypts-opposition-press.html|work=Washington Report|access-date=6 September 2013|author=Michael Collins Dunn|author-link=Michael Collins Dunn|date=March 1990}} He was named governor of the southern province of Asyut. He was appointed minister of interior by President Hosni Mubarak in January 1990, replacing Zaki Badr in the post.{{cite news|title=Abdel Halim Moussa, 73; Egyptian Official Reached Out to Rebels|access-date=28 December 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-22-me-passings22.4-story.html|date=22 July 2003}} Moussa's appointment was commonly welcomed by the Egyptian public.{{cite journal|author=Ahmed Abdalla|title=Mubarak's Gamble|journal=Middle East Report|date=January–February 1991|volume=168|url=http://www.merip.org/mer/mer168/mubaraks-gamble}} Unlike his successor, he adopted a conciliatory approach toward Islamic groups during his term.
In December 1992, Moussa argued that there were more than 2,000 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Sudan and that they were training Egyptian extremists in the camps.{{cite journal|author=P. B. Sinha|title=Threat of Islamic terrorism in Egypt|journal= Strategic Analysis|year=1998|volume=22|issue=8|pages=1193–1213|doi=10.1080/09700169808458874}} In early April 1993 he supported the establishment of a mediation committee by the independent ulemas who opposed the violent activities of the Islamists.{{cite journal|author=Malika Zeghal|title=Religion and Politics in Egypt: The Ulema of al-Azhar, Radical Islam, and the State (1952-94)|issue=3|page=388|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|doi=10.1017/S0020743800055483|year=1999|volume=31|s2cid=33718066 }} Moussa's term lasted until 18 April 1993 when he was fired by Mubarak due to his failure in ending the violence perpetrated by Islamic insurgents{{cite news|author=Youssef M. Ibrahim|title=Egyptian militants blamed in attack on security chief|work=The New York Times|page=1|date=19 August 1993|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/19/world/egyptian-militants-blamed-in-attack-on-security-chief.html}} and due to his endorsement of the ulemas' mediation committee plan. The day before his dismissal Moussa stated that a dialogue had been opened towards the Islamic militants.{{cite journal|author=Scott Mattoon|title=Terror Makes Its Mark|journal=The Middle East|date=June 1993|issue=224}} Hassan Al Alfi replaced Moussa as interior minister.{{cite book|title=Middle East Contemporary Survey: 1993|volume=17|year=1995|publisher=Westview Press|location=Boulder, CO|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SEnAAAACAAJ
|editor=Ami Ayalon|isbn=978-0813324333|editor-link=Ami Ayalon}}
=Assassination attempts=
Moussa escaped unhurt after four assassination attempts all by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad when he was in office as interior minister.{{cite news|title=Different minister, same assassination method|author=Mounir Adib|date=5 September 2013|newspaper=Al-Masry Al-Youm
|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/opinion/different-minister-same-assassination-method|access-date=6 September 2013}} The first attempt was in October 1990.{{cite news|author=Bradley Hope|title=Long-time Islamist prisoner faces a whole new Egypt|newspaper=The National|access-date=28 December 2012|date=22 March 2012|url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/long-time-islamist-prisoner-faces-a-whole-new-egypt}} However, not Moussa but the parliamentary speaker Rif'at al-Mahjub was killed in the attack. In the last attempt, Moussa's driver, who was a relative of the group, was killed and perpetrators apologized to the family of the driver.
=Controversy=
Zaki Badr, Moussa's successor as interior minister, accused him of corruption and wrongdoing in January 1994.{{cite journal|author=William J Burns|title=The Impending Crisis in Egypt|journal=The Middle East Journal|date=Winter 1995|volume=49|issue=1|page=19|doi=10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_SIM220070012}}
Death
Moussa was diagnosed with cancer in 2002.{{cite news|title=Deaths|newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=20030721&id=bvIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2462,380702|access-date=28 December 2012|date=21 July 2003}} He died of cancer at the age of 73 in Cairo on 19 July 2003.
References
{{Reflist|33em}}
External links
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Zaki Badr}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Interior|years=1986–1990}}
{{s-aft|after=Hassan Al Alfi}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moussa, Abdul Halim}}
Category:20th-century Egyptian politicians
Category:Deaths from cancer in Egypt
Category:Interior ministers of Egypt