Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before he was ousted amid the Arab Spring protests in 2011, died Tuesday at age 91.
His death was confirmed by the presidency and on state television.
A military funeral was planned for Wednesday, to be followed by three days of mourning, said the office of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
Mubarak had long battled illness and was recently admitted to a Cairo military hospital’s intensive care unit, as media speculated on whether he suffered cancer, heart troubles or respiratory ailments.
Mubarak became vice president in 1975 before taking power in 1981, following the assassination of former president Anwar al-Sadat by Islamist militants.
Mubarak was sitting near Sadat but survived, going on to dodge bullets during several more attempts on his life, including one by Islamist militants in 1995 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
He remained head of state for three decades but was overthrown in 2011 after three weeks of mass protests that started on January 25.
Mubarak faced multiple charges after his overthrow, including over the deaths of protesters in 2011 and for corruption.
In the years since, many Egyptians’ aversion to Mubarak has gradually given way to indifference mixed with nostalgia, and many now remember his rule as a bygone period of stability.
