Ahmad Ismail Ali
Field Marshal Ahmad Ismail Ali (Arabic: أحمد إسماعيل علي) (14 October 1917 – 25 December 1974) was an Egyptian senior military officer who was Egypt's minister of war during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. He is best known for his planning of the attack across the Suez Canal, code-named Operation Badr.
Ahmad Ismail Ali أحمد إسماعيل علي | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Defence of Egypt | |
| In office 1972–1974 | |
| President | Anwar El-Sadat |
| Preceded by | Mohammed Ahmed Sadek |
| Succeeded by | Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy |
| Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate | |
| In office 1971–1972 | |
| President | Muhammad Naguib, Gamal Abdel Nasser |
| Preceded by | Ahmad Kamel |
| Succeeded by | Karim El-Leithy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 October 1917 Cairo, Egypt |
| Died | 25 December 1974 (aged 57) London, United Kingdom |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Egypt United Arab Republic Egypt |
| Branch/service | Egyptian Army |
| Years of service | 1938–1974 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Unit | 16th Infantry |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars |
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He graduated from the Military Academy in 1938 and was a colleague of both the late President Anwar Sadat and President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the Academy. After graduating with the rank of second lieutenant, he joined the infantry and served in the Second World War and fought in the First Arab-Israeli War, the 1956 Suez Crisis and the Six-Day War. In 1969, he became the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces and then was dismissed by Nasser because of the famous Zafarana incident. Then under President Sadat returned him to the service as head of the General Intelligence, then he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General and became Minister of War in 1972.