All language subtitles for Infamous Assassinations s01e15 Anwar Sadat

October the 6th, 1981, Cairo.

A military parade celebrates the
anniversary of Egypt's successful

the Suez Canal.

Suddenly a truck skids to a halt.

Four men race towards the reviewing
stand, firing and throwing grenades.

Seven people are killed, including
Egypt's president, Anwar al -Sadat.

How had assassins managed to get to one
of the most powerful statesmen in the

Arab world and break through the tight
security surrounding them?

October the 7th, 1981, Cairo.

A galaxy of world leaders, including the
U .S. Secretary of State, representing

President Reagan, who was recovering
from an assassination attempt, along

three former presidents, Jimmy Carter,
Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon, attend

Sadat's funeral.

But why are no Arab leaders present,
except the president of the Sadat?

Although a hero to the West for making
peace with Israel, Sadat has alienated

his own people and the Arab world.

Is this why he was assassinated?

December 25th, 1918.

Born into a poor Egyptian -Sudanese
family, Sadat goes into the army and

a second lieutenant in 1938.

Posted to the Sudan, he meets Gamal
Abdel Nasser, who has founded the

anti -British, anti -monarchy, free
officers movement dedicated to freeing

from British control.

Its strategic position as a link between
Africa and the Middle East and at the

center of the Arab world has always made
Egypt a crucial geopolitical area.

This is enhanced in 1869 when the Suez
Canal is completed by Ferdinand de

Lesseps. the vital link in the sea
passage from Europe to India and the Far

East.

In 1882, Britain effectively takes
control of the country, although it

its own caliph and remains nominally
part of the Ottoman Empire.

Following the entry of the Turks into
World War I against Britain and France,

Egypt is declared a British
protectorate, with its own government

It serves as a vital base for the
offensive under General Edmund Allenby,

sweeps up through Palestine and drives
the Turks out of the Middle East.

But with the end of the war in 1918 and
the removal of the immediate reason for

British involvement, a movement
dedicated to full independence is

The British have no intention of giving
up control of the vital canal.

but are faced with widespread and
violent rioting.

In 1922, as part of the dividing up of
the Ottoman Empire between Britain and

France, Egypt becomes a supposedly
independent kingdom, but with Britain

controlling the Suez Canal and
maintaining a large military garrison.

The outbreak of World War II re
-emphasizes the vital strategic position

Egypt and the Suez Canal.

In 1940, Mussolini's Italy launches a
major invasion from its colony, Libya,

this is easily thrown back by a British
force less than a tenth the size.

Adolf Hitler then sends General Erwin
Rommel with the Africa Corps to help the

Italians.

For the next two years, fighting sweeps
hundreds of miles across the western

desert of Egypt and Libya.

It finally ends in May 1943.

The German and Italian forces are
obliged to surrender in Tunisia.

Throughout, Egypt has been the vital
supply base for the Allied armies

in the desert, and there has been little
pretense that the country is not

totally under British control.

Anwar Sadat is among many young officers
resenting this and seeing the Germans

as potential allies in achieving true
Egyptian independence.

The Germans attempt to take advantage of
this by sending agents into the country

to meet up with these potential
dissidents.

October 1942, Cairo.

Lieutenant Sadat is arrested by British
intelligence and charged with spying.

Imprisoned in Cairo, he soon escapes and
remains on the run for the rest of the

war.

In 1945, he's recaptured and charged
with being involved in a failed attempt

assassinate Egypt's Prime Minister,
Nahas Pasha.

Freed in 1948, Sadat returns to the army
and becomes a leading member of the

Free Officers Movement alongside Colonel
Nasser.

July 23, 1952, Cairo.

During the coup against King Farouk, Led
by General Mohamed Naguib and Colonel

Nasser,

Sadat has a key task, taking over the
main radio station in Cairo and

the establishment of the Egyptian
Republic.

In 1954, Nasser becomes Prime Minister
and swiftly takes absolute power as

President.

He also begins a massive arms build -up.

Sadat is now one of Nasser's closest
confidants as Minister for Broadcasting.

July 26, 1956, Cairo.

To emphasize the independence of the
Egyptian Republic, Nasser nationalizes

Suez Canal.

To regain control, the British and
French agree secretly with Israel that

invade Egypt's Sinai Desert.

And then, under the guise of a
peacemaking operation, they will

Canal Zone.

The Israeli and Franco -British
invasions go ahead, but the operation

shambles when the United States refuses
to support it.

It demands that all parties withdraw and
return control of the canal to the

Egyptians.

December 22nd, 1956, Canal Zone.

British and French forces pull out.

After this humiliating climb down by the
former colonial powers, Nasser's

popularity reaches extraordinary
heights.

He establishes Egypt as a leader of the
third world and unites his country with

Syria in 1958 as the United Arab
Republic.

Sadat becomes Speaker of the National
Assembly and in 1964 he's appointed Vice

President.

The tension in the Middle East grows
during the early 1960s.

Palestinians displaced during the
establishment of the Israeli state

action against it.

There is a growth in extremist Islamic
religious groups which want to turn the

republic into a religious state.

Among the bloodiest of these is the
fundamentalist al -Takfir wal -Sajira,

is virulently opposed to the decadent
West.

and determined to kill all heretics.

Many hundreds of its adherents are
imprisoned and tortured.

In 1966, its spiritual leader, Said
Kottab, is executed for planning

assassination.

It is the beginning of a spiral of
violence which will prove fatal to Anwar

Sadat.

January 1967, the Middle East.

NASA's arms build -up convinces the
Israelis that it is only a matter of

before the Arab nations launch another
attempt to annihilate the Jewish state.

June 5, 1967.

The Israeli Air Force launches a
preemptive strike which wipes out

Syrian, and Jordanian air power.

Over the next six days, an Israeli
-armored blitzkrieg sweeps the Egyptians

of the Sinai Peninsula, reaching the
Suez Canal.

While other forces seize the Golan
Heights from Syria and occupy the whole

Jerusalem, the west bank of the Jordan,
and Gaza.

Deeply humiliated by their disastrous
defeat, the Arabs vow to gain revenge.

Intoxicated by the scale of their
victory, the Israelis refused to

compromise which might bring peace and
begin to settle the occupied

Nasser attempts to resign after the
disaster of the Six -Day War, but

demonstrations in all Egypt's major
cities persuade him to resume the

presidency. In 1969, he again makes
Sadat his vice -president.

October the 5th, 1970, Cairo.

Nasser dies of a heart attack, and Sadat
is elected as his successor.

In 1971, Sadat secures his position with
what he calls a corrective revolution.

Prominent Nasserites are purged, and he
releases a large number of the political

and religious prisoners arrested by his
predecessor.

Among these are many members of al
-Takfir wal -Hajira.

But Sadat's leniency does not impress
them.

In the same year, Sadat shows his
flexibility in foreign affairs by

proposals for a full peace with Israel,
subject to Israel withdrawing to its pre

-1967 borders.

But neither Israel nor the United
States, which is increasingly becoming

backer, will accept this.

Sadat decides to embark on a twin -track
policy.

He signs fresh arms deals with the
Soviet Union and prepares a pre -emptive

strike to force the Israelis to
negotiate.

His aim is not to invade Sinai, but to
seize positions across the Suez Canal so

as to improve his bargaining position.

While at the same time, he disguises his
intentions and tried to lessen US

hostility by expelling large numbers of
Soviet advisers.

The Egyptian moves to reinforce its army
on the canal are cunningly disguised as

routine military exercises.

The overconfident Israelis refuse to
believe that the Egyptians would dare to

attack them, and they are encouraged in
this belief by an Egyptian intelligence

coup.

For several years, Israel's intelligence
agency, Mossad, has been running an

agent, one of Sadat's inner circle.

He keeps assuring them that because of
the expulsion of the Soviet advisors,

Egypt is in no state to launch an
assault.

But the man is a double agent.

When finally the Egyptian build -up
cannot be disguised, he convinces the

Israelis that any attack will not come
until well after their holy day of Yom

Kippur.

October 6, 1973, the Suez Canal.

But at midday on Yom Kippur, while
Israelis are on holiday, Egyptian troops

cross and breach the defensive Israeli
sand wall using high -pressure water

hoses.

Three pontoon bridges are swiftly built,
and Egyptian armor crosses and overruns

the lightly held Israeli Bar Lev forward
defense line.

Having penetrated about 10 miles into
the Sinai, the Egyptian forces dig in.

Meanwhile, on Israel's northern front,
its forces face a massive Syrian

assault against the Golden Heights.

Despite this war on two fronts, the
Israelis are ultra -confident that a

counter -attack using their superbly
trained air force and armoured corps

quickly destroy the Egyptian bridgehead.

But using an anti -aircraft and anti
-tank missile screen provided by the

Union, the Egyptian forces in the south
repel the assault.

Scores of Israeli tanks and aircraft are
destroyed before they even get close to

the Egyptian line.

Fortunately, on the northern front, the
defending Israeli tank crews are in

their element, despite being outnumbered
almost ten to one.

They pick off the Syrian tanks with
devastatingly rapid and accurate long

gunfire and swiftly halt the advance.

Only when Syria is pleased for support
after this disastrous repulse persuades

Sadat to order his units to advance
outside their defensive screen do

counterattacks succeed in crossing the
Suez Canal and surrounding the Egyptian

Third Army.

October 23, 1973.

The United States and the Soviet Union
then broker a ceasefire which leaves

Egypt with footholds across the Suez
Canal.

It is the high point of Sadat's prestige
within the Arab world. He is the hero

of the crossing, whose armies had shown
that Israel can be defeated.

His confidence is shown when the Saudis
persuade him to allow the extremist

Muslim Brotherhood back into Egypt.

Sadat is determined to take advantage of
his new friendship with the United

States.

He introduces widespread economic
reforms, privatizing previously

-owned industries and banks, and
relaxing price control.

It is a policy which benefits the
growing Egyptian middle class, but bears

heavily on the poor.

January 1977.

Rioting breaks out in Cairo and
Alexandria against an announcement of

substantial increases in the prices of
basic foodstuffs.

Badly shaken, Sadat withdraws the price
increases.

blaming the unrest on communist and
religious extremes.

It is while his domestic policies are in
chaos that Sadat reveals what he

believes will be a foreign policy coup.

For years, he's been holding secret
discussions with the Israeli government

Menachem Begin.

November the 19th.

1977, Tel Aviv, Israel.

The talks culminate with an official
visit by Sadat to Israel.

He speaks to the Knesset and begins
peace negotiations.

A year later, the Camp David Agreement
is brokered by U .S. President Jimmy

Carter.

Israel evicts its settlers from the
whole of Sinai in return for a full

agreement.

Sadat's actions caused an explosion of
rage throughout the Arab world.

He is condemned by every other Arab
government as a traitor and the Arab

moves its headquarters from Cairo.

Sadat had hoped to deflect some of the
criticism by persuading Israel to

withdraw from Gaza and begin negotiating
with the Palestine Liberation

Organization. But Begin refuses to
consider this.

Abroad, Sadat is awarded a joint Nobel
Peace Prize with Begin in 1979.

At home, a fatwa by a fundamentalist
cleric condemns Sadat to death as an

infidel.

The fuse has been lit, which will lead
directly to Sadat's assassination.

January 1980, Egypt.

The unpopularity of Sadat's regime is
increased by rumors of corruption within

Sadat's family and a growing gap between
rich and poor.

Many of Sadat's ministers resign in
protest at his policies.

In mosques all over the country,
fundamentalists are openly pillorying

president and calling for his death.

And it almost seems that Sadat is
deliberately baiting the fanatics when

offers the Shah of Iran refuge in Egypt
after his regime is overthrown by

Ayatollah Khomeini.

March 6, 1981, Western Desert.

Egypt's defence minister, Ahmed Badawi,
and 13 senior generals are killed in a

helicopter crash near the Libyan border.

Questions are asked as to how so many
top brass have been allowed on one

Rumors spread that Badawi had recently
warned Sadat to change his internal

policies.

In August 1981, during a meeting in
Alexandria, Menachem Begin warns him

Mossad has received information about
death plots.

And shortly after he leaves, Egyptian
intelligence uncovers a plan to

assassinate Sadat and his wife Jehan.

in their summer palace in the city.

Finally, on September 3rd, 1981,

Sadat launches a crackdown against his
political opponents and religious

extremists. More than 3 ,000 are
arrested.

The only part of the government which is
untouched by the purge is the army.

Sadat is convinced that it is loyal to
him.

It is a fatal mistake.

September 23, 1981, Cairo.

Artillery Lieutenant Khaled al
-Islambouli is told that he is to take

the 6th of October victory parade in
front of President Sadat.

Islamouli is a secret member of Al
-Takfir wal -Hijrah, the extreme

fundamentalist network.

His cell has already discussed killing
Sadat as part of a coup.

Islambuli volunteers to lead a suicide
squad during the parade.

He has less than two weeks to come up
with a plan.

It is simple, but deadly.

His detachment of trucks towing
artillery will come fairly late in the

On the morning of the parade, he will
ensure that the three -man gun crew in

own truck has been given leave of
absence.

Their places will be taken by three
volunteers who will be equipped with

uniforms and false papers.

As his truck gets level with the
reviewing stand, his lambouli will force

driver to stop and then race to the
reviewing stand to throw grenades at the

president and senior officers in the
front row.

His three fellow assassins will give
covering fire and then race towards the

stand firing indiscriminately to add to
the confusion.

October 5th, 1981, Cairo.

With just 24 hours to go before the
parade, Islambouli gets rid of three of

unit. One is ill, one is given leave,
and the other, special duties.

October 6th, 1981, Cairo.

President Sadat takes his place on the
reviewing stand, occupied by more than a

thousand guests, diplomats, politicians,
and journalists.

at 10 o 'clock.

Then there are lengthy speeches and
prayers.

Meanwhile, Islambuli assembles his
artillery unit at the securely cordoned

marshalling area.

He makes great play of searching the
three new soldiers who have replaced

given leave of absence.

About an hour and a half later, the
parade begins, with fireworks and jets

screaming overhead.

Then the first troops and vehicles begin
to pile.

It takes another hour before Islambuli's
trucks reach the staff.

As they do so, another flight of jets
screams overhead,

attracting many of the crowd.

including the president and his
bodyguards.

They don't notice that one of the trucks
has stopped opposite the reviewing

staff.

His lambouli leaps out of it and races
towards the president.

He lobs three grenades, only one of
which explodes.

Simultaneously, his companions stand up
in the truck and start firing, probably

killing Sadat with one of their first
shots.

The three men then also jump out and
race towards the reviewing stand, firing

indiscriminately.

There is chaos in the stand.

Eleven of the reviewing party, including
the president, have been killed

outright or fatally wounded.

Twenty -eight more are injured.

It takes about 45 seconds before the
security guards react properly.

By then the assassins have run out of
ammunition.

and are racing back to the truck.

Sadat is rushed to hospital, but he is
dead on arrival.

His lambouli and two fellow assassins
are arrested on the spot. The force

escapes, but is picked up two days
later.

All are executed in April 1982, after a
short trial.

The following day, Sadat is buried.

He is succeeded by Vice President Hosni
Mubarak, who continues his policy of

peace with Israel, and also clamps down
severely on the Muslim extremists who

were responsible for his predecessor's
death.

Yet again, An assassination intended to
bring about a radical change in policy

fails utterly to achieve its objective,
and Sadat's legacy continues on.