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General Muhammad Naguib (Khartoum, Sudan, 1901 - Cairo, August 28, 1984) was briefly leader of Egypt.
A graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Cairo, and a general who was one of Egypt's few heroes from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Naguib was recruited by the revolutionary Free Officers Movement to lend the group credibility, as a figurehead leader. The Free Officers, led by Colonel Gamal Abd al-Nasser were young members of the military all under thirty-five and all from peasant or lower middle-class backgrounds. Nasser's goal was to seize power in Egypt from the British-dominated King Faruq. He worried that he and his followers would not be taken seriously, however, and General Naguib was enlisted.
In the coup of July 23, 1952, they deposed the monarchy and Naguib was appointed, first as Commander-in-Chief, in order to keep the armed forces favorable to the coup organized by such junior officers. Then, that September, he was declared head of the governing council, with Nasser serving in the background as Minister of the Interior. When the republic was declared, June 1953, Naguib was President. However, in 1954 Nasser accused Naguib of supporting the recently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and of harboring dictatorial ambitions; in November he expelled him from office. A brief power struggle broke out for control of the military and of Egypt, won by Nasser.
Naguib was placed under house arrest, and he remained under supervision in Cairo until his death in 1984.
- Brief biography (http://www.micromegas.com.mx/papeleria/biografias/naguibmuhammad.htm) (in Spanish)
See also: List of Rulers of Modern Egypt
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