Sameh Seif El-Yazal

Sameh Seif El-Yazal (1946 – 4 April 2016) was an Egyptian military officer and politician. He was elected to the Egyptian House of Representatives in 2015.

Career

El-Yazal graduated from Egyptian military Academy in 1965. He fought in several wars including the War of Attrition, Six-Day War and the 6 October War. He was an officer in the Egypt's Republican Guard, Military Intelligence and then Egyptian General Intelligence Service. He served as minister plenipotentiary at Egyptian embassies in North Korea and United Kingdom. After leaving military service, he went into business and became chairman of G4S Secure Solutions Egypt, a subsidiary of London-based multinational security service G4S and later chairman of British Egyptian Business Association until 2014 when he joined active politics.

In the build-up to 2011 revolution, El-Yazal was a frequent guest on media talk shows and newspapers as a national security expert where he analysed issues and classified information including the secret plans of then Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to run for president after the revolution which he did and won. In December 2014, El-Yazal declared his intention to run for a parliamentary seat. Months later he became the coordinator of pro El-Sisi political coalition – For the Love of Egypt (since renamed Support Egypt) accused of being backed by state security institutions. El-Yazal denied this allegation but after the coalition's victory in the parliamentary election in which it won 120 seats, El-Yazal publicly declared that the For the Love of Egypt coalition would be an arm of president El-Sisi in the parliament.  He won his own election to the House of Representatives and became the leader of the largest interest group in the house until his death on 4 April 2016 from cancer.