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Powerful Egyptian Spy Chief No Longer Behind the Scenes
(Los Angeles Times) Hossam Hamalawy - When Hosni Mubarak's car came under a hailstorm of bullets in Addis Ababa nearly 10 years ago, the Egyptian president survived the assassination attempt thanks to Omar Suleiman. Intelligence chief Suleiman had persuaded Mubarak to fly his armored Mercedes from Cairo to Ethiopia rather than ride in the unarmored vehicle offered by his hosts. Suleiman was sitting next to the president when Islamist gunmen opened fire. The spy chief, now 68, who has become one of the country's most powerful figures, quietly brokered the Sharm el-Sheik summit.