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Spymaster | Egypt
Abbas Kamel, the ubiquitous spy chief consolidating Sisi's power

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Published on 20.01.2023 at 07:00 GMT 3 min read Lire en français

Abbas Kamel, the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence, the Mukhabarat al-Amma. © Khaled Elfiqi/EPA/Newscom/MaxPPP

Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel is throwing his weight behind all the missions entrusted to him by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, from foreign affairs to the country's economy. His active involvement in the state's affairs is not only helping the Egyptian leader consolidate his own power, but that of his spymasters too.

On 11 January, when spymaster Abbas Kamel was summoned by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss civil aviation projects in Egypt, he actively took part in the talks to which Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas Helmy had also been convened. Kamel contributed to a range of topics raised, from upgrading the Egyptian air fleet to the governance of airline EgyptAir. While aviation is not a key focus for Egypt's General Intelligence Service, Mukhabarat, or GIS,

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