28 June 2018•Update: 02 July 2018
By Mohamed Mahmoud
CAIRO
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday appointed Abbas Kamel to head up Egypt’s leading intelligence service.
According to the official MENA news agency, Kamel has been officially sworn in as head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate (GID) -- the country’s most important intelligence agency.
MENA also reported that Nasser Fahmi had been formally sworn in as the GID’s deputy head.
In January, al-Sisi dismissed Khaled Fawzi from the top intelligence post, assigning Kamel to run the agency until a new chief could be appointed on a permanent basis.
A veteran politician, Kamel has previously served as director of al-Sisi’s office, as military intelligence chief and as minister of defense.
Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, which answers directly to the presidency, was established in 1954.
