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Name: Sami Anan
Position(s): Chief of Staff (since 2005)
DoB:  February 2, 1948 (64 years old)
Previous Positions:  Battalion Commander (1981-1990), Defense Attaché in Morocco (1990-1992), Brigade Commander (1992-1996), Air Defense Forces Division Commander (1996-1998), Chief of Air Defense Forces operation department (1998-2000), Air Defense Forces Chief of Staff (2000-2001), Air Defense Forces Commander (2001-2005)  
Youtube Channel: See bottom of page or click here

Overview: 
  • Americans were wary of Anan at start (end of 2005) given his limited English and the fact that he had not studied in the US - however, it seems these were quite unfounded
  • Anan has studied in Russia and France during his career
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Chief of Staff Sami Anan Images

Wikileaks Specific

November 23, 2005 - US is wary of new Chief of Staff Anan after replacing Waheba (http://ow.ly/a6WO1)
  • The most significant change in staffing involves Chief of Staff Samy Enan, who replaced LTG Waheba. In contrast to LTG Waheba, a fluent English speaker who spent extensive periods of time in the U.S. and attended briefings on the U.S.'s own transformation strategy, LTG Samy speaks little English and has not studied in the U.S. (Note: His only known training outside of Egypt was in France and Russia. End note.) Because of LTG Samy's limited exposure to the U.S. system, he may be a traditionalist. MCC discussions of transformation may provide insights into how LTG Samy views this pivotal issue. 
  • Also includes an interesting assessment of the Egyptian government's view on things at the time including waiving $50,000 fee for US ships in the Suez, supplying Afghanistan with weapons and doctors, engaging with Iraq at behest of US, etc.
  • Waheba later went on to head the Arab Organization for Industrialization - a shell company that the military runs many of its businesses through

April 23, 2009 - Annan discusses denying Iran overflight for weapons (http://ow.ly/a6MEb)
  • On April 23, Ambassador raised ref A points on suspected Iranian arms overflights with Egyptian military Chief of Staff LTG Sami Anan during the visit of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen. Anan said replied that MOD, along with the relevant GOE authorities, would "immediately consider" denying overflight clearances within the parameters of Egyptian and international law, once the GOE received specific flight information. He stressed the need for "complete information" on each flight, including evidence that the plane was carrying arms intended to be smuggled into Gaza, instead of arms being shipped for the legitimate military use of a regional country. "We must be careful about reciprocity" with regional states, Anan added. Anan also requested information on the specific arms in the shipment, noting that international law permitted the overflight of conventional weapons, as long as Egypt is notified of the plane's cargo.

April 6, 2009 - Basis of US-Military Aid considerations of production and loyalty (http://ow.ly/a6MFO)

  • General Schwartz noted the long history of cooperation between the Egyptian and American air forces. He encouraged Anan to expedite GOE,s impending request for Block 50 F-16s, in order to avoid a break in the production line. Anan said that purchasing new F-16s using FMF funds was a priority for the Egyptian military, calling F16s the "backbone" of the Egyptian Air Force. Anan anticipated that Egypt would provide a "positive reply." Anan looked forward to Egyptian involvement in the new U.S. Africa Command. On overall mil-mil cooperation, Anan said Egypt was "determined to keep the relationship strong" through "honesty, transparency, and loyalty."

April 21, 2009 - Sinai Bedouins, Hamas and Iran (http://ow.ly/a6O2W)
  • "We have been relatively successful" he said, adding that "strict counter smuggling measures" recently caused angry Sinai Bedouin involved in the smuggling business to attack Egyptian security forces. According to Egyptian military intelligence, Egypt's "strong hand" also angered Hamas, who also plans to attack Egyptian security forces.
  • LTG Anan noted the strong bilateral relationship [between Egypt and the US], saying "differences in opinion will never be allowed to spoil" the U.S.- Egypt relationship.
February 17th, 2008 - US Role in Africa and Egypt's help (http://ow.ly/a6Wk4) 
  • Anan said Egypt supported such an approach. It was very important for the U.S. not to act as a "policeman." GEN Ward agreed; "We will only work with countries that ask for our help." Anan said that Egypt will use its excellent relations with African nations and the United States to support AFRICOM, "as long as the United States pursues stability." 

Other Links: News, Blogs and Commentary

  • Profile of Anan by New York Times - "The Pentagon's man in Egypt" http://ow.ly/a6Xvc
           The chief of staff of the Egyptian armed forces, Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan, had just finished breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City with two old American friends — one a former head of Central Command, the other a top defense official — when he got a call that the Egyptian Army was going into the streets of Cairo to manage the revolution.
          Today General Enan, a favorite of the American military....         American officials say, General Enan, 63, has become a crucial link for the United States as it navigates the rocky course ahead with Cairo.If he is not yet the Pentagon’s man in Egypt, many hope he will be.
           He’s a sharp guy,” said Adm. William J. Fallon, the retired head of the United States Central Command, who oversaw American military operations in the Middle East, including Egypt. “He’s thoughtful, astute and competent professionally. And I believe he will try to do the right thing.” Admiral Fallon, along with Mary Beth Long, a former high-ranking Pentagon official, was among those at the January breakfast     
            General Enan is considered more of a traditional military man focused on Army operations and modernization. Like other Egyptian officers of his generation, he has studied in Russia, and has taken courses in France. He drinks occasionally, according to two Egyptians close to the military, and speaks some English and a little French.
               He was born in Mansoura in the Nile Delta in northern Egypt and came up through the military’s Air Defense branch, where he commanded battalions responsible for launching Egypt’s missiles. Unlike a younger generation of Egyptian officers, he has not studied or trained in the United States, the Egyptian military official said.       At the Pentagon, General Enan is known as self-effacing, deferential, humorous and conservative. He also is said to have a fondness for American consumer goods.       During his trips to Washington, officials always scheduled a day of shopping for him and his wife, as they did for other Egyptian officers, at the Tysons Corner mall in suburban Virginia, where the Egyptians liked to buy electronics, jeans and other clothing. The couple has three children.
            On those same trips, General Enan was flown for visits to the Central Command headquarters in Tampa or to a Coast Guard base in Miami, or taken to meet with an emergency response team in Fairfax, Va.  These days, he remains in close contact with Pentagon officials by phone, including Admiral Mullen; the two spoke most recently on Thursday. A United States military official would not provide specifics about the call other than to say that General Enan and the military rulers had “no illusions about the difficult job they face.”

  • Anan counters another SCAF Members Comment  http://ow.ly/a6WuO 
                  “Whatever the majority in the People’s Assembly, they are very welcome, because they won’t have the ability to impose anything that the people don’t want.” Thus declared General Mukhtar al-Mulla, a member of Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
              Al-Mulla’s message was that the Islamists’ victory in Egypt’s recent election gives them neither executive power nor control of the framing of a new constitution. But General Sami Anan, Chief of Staff and the SCAF’s deputy head, quickly countered that al-Mulla’s statement does not necessarily represent the official views of the Council.
       Source: "What do Egypt’s Generals Want?" by Omar Ashour | Project Syndicate http://ow.ly/a6WuO

  • Anan was in Washington when protests broke out in Jan25, 2011 http://ow.ly/a6WuO 
            The chief of staff of Egypt’s armed forces, Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan, was due to meet Monday with Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and remain with his delegation in Washington through next Wednesday. But as the protests intensified on Friday, he and his group headed for the airport.
             The Egyptian military delegation was in Washington for previously scheduled annual military talks with their American counterparts. The sessions were led by Alexander Vershbow, the assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs.