In his famous step-down speech after the setback on June 9, 1967, President Gamal Abdel Nasser assigned his deputy Zakaria Mohieddin to succeed him to assume the duties of the President of the Republic, saying, “I have assigned my colleague, friend and brother Zakaria Mohieddin to assume the position of President of the Republic, and to work with the established constitutional texts.” Therefore, after this decision, I put everything I have at his request, and at the service of the dangerous conditions that our people are going through.”

But the secrets of this assignment and that discourse remain a matter of controversy, as did Zakaria Mohieddin’s own life and political career, which he refused to talk about, unlike other “Free Officers” who led the July 23, 1952 revolution that overthrew the monarchy and opened the door to declaring the republic in Egypt. The man did not write his memoirs and did not appear in press interviews like them.

July Revolution

Mohieddin – whose birthday came a few days ago, as he was born on July 5, 1918 – joined the Free Officers Organization about 3 months before the “July Revolution” 1952, and participated in drawing up a plan for the movement of forces, as he was responsible for it and a commander The process of besieging the royal palaces in Alexandria at the time of King Farouk I’s presence there.

Mohieddin held several high positions in the “July regime”, where he held the position of Director of Military Intelligence for one year after the revolution, then the position of Minister of Interior in 1953, and Abdel Nasser assigned him the task of establishing the General Intelligence Service in 1954 AD, and he held the position of Minister of Interior twice and then President He has been appointed as Minister and Vice President of the Republic, and has retired from political life since 1968 to decide to stay out of the limelight.

Mohie El-Din was known to the Egyptian public opinion for his strong and strict fist due to the tasks entrusted to him as Minister of the Interior and Director of the General Intelligence Service.

June setback

After the severe defeat that Egypt suffered against Israel and was known in the media as the setback, Mohieddin refused to assign Abdel Nasser to him to take over power, as did the angry masses that came out in the streets of Cairo demanding Abdel Nasser to stay, and Mohy El-Din soon resigned from his position as Vice President of the Republic in March March 1968.

The famous journalist writer Muhammad Hassanein Heikal – in his book “The Explosion” – tells the scenes of Abdel Nasser’s choice of Mohieddin to take over his succession on the ninth of June, as Abdel Nasser wanted to choose Shams Badran as Minister of War, but Haykal refused to write his name in the letter he was tasked with drafting Abdel Nasser asked him, “If it wasn’t Shams Badran, who?” Heikal asked him: Who is the oldest among the remaining members of the Revolutionary Command Council? Nasser replied that he was Muhyi al-Din, describing him as a “sane and intelligent man, with great advantages, who can be accepted internationally, and he is certainly capable of dialogue with the Americans, which is an imperative now.”

According to Haykal’s account, Nasser added that the Soviets might not like Mohieddin, and retracted the idea of ​​telling him that he had chosen him for the mission before announcing this in his resignation speech, saying, “If I spoke to him, he would surely apologize.”

Heikal goes on to say that Mohieddin called him after the speech, and was in great astonishment, and asked him to broadcast a statement apologizing for the position of the President of the Republic immediately, after he knew that people were chanting against him in the streets and asking him not to accept what he was assigned to, otherwise he is a traitor.

son’s novel

His son, Mohamed Zakaria Mohi El-Din, tells that his father has left his house since the fifth of June and heard the resignation speech in his office in Heliopolis, and he was not subjected to any attack, as it was said, but their house had thrown him “bricks.”

The son added – in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper – that journalist Adel Hammouda published a letter in Mohieddin’s handwriting to President Gamal Abdel Nasser requesting that the security services be excluded from choosing leaders, because he feels that the security services have become more and more, and he repeatedly admitted responsibility for that.

On the other hand, Zakaria Mohieldin’s son indicates that Sami Sharaf – director of Nasser’s office – does not mention the existence of a resignation letter from his father to Nasser, while Heikal said that he thinks the letter exists, expressing his belief that the appearance of the resignation letter will introduce public opinion to a way of thinking His father, who believed that the July revolution was a huge event that came at the right time, and that “the mandate obtained by the revolutionaries could, if we had better use it, lead us to another country and another society, but that did not happen.”

Why did he remain silent?

Many journalists tried to talk to Mohie El-Din and open the files with him of the July revolution and the era of Abdel Nasser, but he remained silent, and considers that his national mission ended at a certain stage, and there is no need to talk and reminisce, according to what the politician and former Mubarak Secretary of Information Mustafa El-Feki mentioned in His article in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

El-Feki tells the details of a meeting he had with Mohy El-Din at Vienna Airport when El-Feki was Egypt’s ambassador to Austria, and Mohy El-Din was waiting for his flight, describing him as “completely alert, with a strong memory.” El-Feki asked him about his position on President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Mohieddin replied He will tell him a small story that happened two nights before July 23, 1952, when he met with Abdel Nasser and some officers in the house of one of the Free Officers, and Mohieddin explained to them the expected moves of the secret organization on the night of the revolution, as “the operations officer in planning the required military move.”

Al-Fiqi continues – quoting from Mohy El-Din – that the latter learned after leaving the house from some colleagues that Abdel Nasser said, “Zakaria imagined that he was moving events and living in the role of the leader of the revolution.” I do not deny his greatness and prestige, despite what I know and what I do not say.” When the time for his flight approached, he concluded his speech by saying, “Do you know why I closed my mouth for so many years?”

As for the son, Muhammad Zakaria, he believes that his father’s silence is multi-caused, including his commitment to keeping secrets he knew when he was Director of General and Military Intelligence and Minister of the Interior, including his hatred of gossip. Where is the issue?” One of the reasons for his silence was his sadness over the state of Egypt in 1967 and the grave mistakes that occurred.

The son asserts that his father did not completely shut up. He gave a number of press interviews despite his hatred for them, such as his meetings with Heikal to give him what he wanted in his book “The Bang.”

On May 15, 2012, the final word came to the march of the man who passed away at the age of 94, for the government newspaper Al-Ahram to publish the news under the title “The Silent July Man has gone,” describing him in details as “the most prominent Free Officers, Vice President and former Prime Minister of Egypt, He was a truly statesman, described by politicians as the most capable of work and achievement. His success, mastery, and persistence qualified him to become the first man in the state.