Major General Kamal Amer, head of the Defense and National Security Committee in the House of Representatives.
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has released a statement mourning Major General Kamal Amer, the head of the defence and national security committee in the House of Representatives, who passed away early on Thursday at the age of 78.
“Egypt lost today one of its most valuable men, my teacher, professor, and leader Major General Kamal Amer, the head of the defence and national security committee in the House of Representatives,” the President wrote on his official Facebook page.
“The deceased was the best teacher and leader, loyal to and guardian of the soil of the country until the last moment of his life,” El-Sisi said.
A distinguished career
Kamal Amer was born in Masr El-Kadima district in south Cairo on 13 June 1942.
Amer participated in all the wars Egypt was involved in between 1962 and 1997, coming out of the October 1973 War with the rank of major and commander of the Mechanised Infantry Brigade.
He ran on the National List for Egypt on behalf of the Homat Al-Watan Party for the Cairo, South and Central Delta constituencies in the last parliamentary elections.
He chaired the defence and national security committee in the House of Representatives during the first legislative term as well as during the second legislative term that began last January.
Amer was appointed as a member of the Shura Council from December 2012 until June 2013, and won membership in the House of Representatives in the 2015 and 2020 sessions.
From 1997 to 1999, he held the position of governor of Marsa Matrouh, then from 1999 to 2001 he was governor of Aswan.
He also worked as a consultant at the Nasser Military Academy.
Amer held the operations and planning posts for all levels of the Armed Forces, where he led many positions varying from the commander of infantry up till chief-of-staff and commander of the mechanised infantry brigade, then chief-of-staff and commander of mechanised infantry division, and chief-of-staff of the Egyptian forces in the second Gulf operations.
He then occupied the position of chief-of-staff of the Third Field Army and then commander of the Third Field Army.
He held the position of deputy director of Military Intelligence for two terms – from July 1991 to July 1992, and from January 1995 to December 1995 – and then he was appointed as the director of Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance until 1997.
In 1972, Amer obtained a master’s degree in Military Sciences in October, and an associate degree in Military Strategy in June 1984.
He studied different military courses in various fields, as well as social sciences and Islamic studies, and obtained a PhD in national strategy from the Nasser Military Academy Supreme.
Amer received many medals, including the Military Star Medal, the Republic Medal, the Duty Medal, the Training Medal, the Long and Excellent Service Medal, the King Faisal Medal from Saudi Arabia, the Battle Medal and the Kuwait Liberation Medal from Kuwait, the 26 September Medal from Yemen and the United Nations Medal.
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