A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

‘Abdel Moun‘eim Riyad and Egyptian Martyr's Day

Zeinobia at Egyptian Chronicles reminds us that March 9 is Egyptian Martyr's Day, marking the death of Egyptian Chief of Staff General ‘Abdel Moun‘eim Riyad, who was killed on the Suez Front during the War of Attrition along the Canal on this date in 1969.

She also provides a valuable link to a technical military study of the man by Youssef Abul-Enein from Infantry magazine in 2004: "Egyptian General Abdel-Moneim Riad: the Creation of an Adaptive Military Thinker."

I haven't read all of it yet but it certainly portrays a man quite different from his predecessor, ‘Abd al-Hakim ‘Amr, who presided over the disaster of 1967; Riad I suspect deserves some of the credit for the successes achieved in the crossing of the Canal in 1973, though he didn't live to see it. He has streets and squares and stuff named for him, of course.

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