Middle East Features

BACKGROUND: Who's who in Egypt

Feb 3, 2011, 15:32 GMT

Egyptian demonstrators gesture in front of an army tank as Pro and anti President Hosni Mubarak protesters are at Tahrir square, Cairo, Egypt, 03 February 2011. EPA/ANDRE LIOHN

Cairo - Brief pen portraits of the leading figures in the government and opposition in Egypt:

Hosny Mubarak: The 82-year-old former air force commander, has ruled the most populous Arab state since 1981, taking over after Anwar Sadat was assassinated. He followed Sadat's path in cultivating close ties with the United States and maintaining a tense peace deal with Israel. He also took heavy handed approaches to Islamists in his own country, and is criticised in the Arab world for being too tough on the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Omar Suleiman: A long time confidant of Mubarak, who is also a military man, Suleiman, born in 1936 (some sources say 1935), was appointed Vice President in middle of the ongoing crisis, filling a position that has been vacant for 30 years. But he has long been rumoured to be a possible successor to Mubarak. He was previously Egypt's top spy and was heavily involved in diplomatic ties with Israel and negotiations with Palestinian parties. He also also seen as being keen to keep close ties with the West.

Mohammed ElBaradei: The former head of the IAEA, the UN Nuclear watchdog, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has in the last 18 months been making attempts to become the leader of Egypt's opposition. Born in 1942, he faces some skepticism for having spent many years abroad. A liberal who has an open line to the country's more conservative elements as well as to the West, he could emerge as a transitional leader.

Ahmed Zuwail: The winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Zuwail, born 1946, has toted himself as a man of science. He has largely eschewed taking a political role in Egypt, where he is respected - his face appears on a stamp. He also is admired in his adopted home, the US. When the uprising began in January, he flew back to Cairo to join a committee to write a new constitution for the country and would be willing to negotiate on behalf of the opposition.

The Egyptian Military: Part funded by 1.3 billion dollars in US military aid, the army is a powerful player in Egypt, though shadowy, and it is unclear who within the army wields political power. The army has commercial enterprises and the Ministry of Military Production turns a profit. Many in Egypt, where men are drafted into service, see the military as a neutral player, but others question the institution.