Word: sadat
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Four suicidal killers succeed in slaying Sadat and stunning the world...
...President Anwar Sadat, 62, hailed by his countrymen as the "Hero of the Crossing," the anniversary had special meaning. His decision to strike across the canal in 1973 had transformed his reputation at home and abroad from that of a mere transition figure to that of a leader, daring enough to go to war in order to seek peace. In that sense, Oct. 6, 1973, had been the first step on his historic journey to Jerusalem and a peace treaty with Israel...
Normally, Sadat, a man who had spent much of his early life as a soldier, relished the pomp and flourish of military power on display. On this morning he was not enthusiastic. Complaining of fatigue to his Vice President, Hosni Mubarak, he said he wished he did not have to attend the parade. Mubarak urged him to stay at home and rest. But Sadat's sense of duty won out. He would go, and afterward, in his Nile Delta home village of Mit Abu el Kom, visit the grave of his brother Atif, a pilot killed on the first...
...trio took their places of honor in the reviewing stand, front row center, slightly elevated above the parade route behind a 5-ft.-high wall, Sadat in the middle, Mubarak to his right, General Abu Ghazala to his left. For three days before the parade, security personnel had inspected every rifle, every truck, every tank that would be in the march, to make sure that no live ammunition would be issued. Now the security men were combing the arriving invited guests with metal detectors. Jehan Sadat, the President's elegant wife, 48, had brought her grandchildren and was watching from...
...about 12:40 p.m., midway through the parade, Abu Ghazala pointed out to Sadat six Mirage jet fighters sweeping low overhead, trailing plumes of blue, yellow, red and white smoke across the azure sky. Directly in front of the reviewing stand, a truck towing a Soviet-made 130-mm antitank gun braked to a halt. Other drivers in the four-column-wide procession, apparently suspecting more mechanical trouble, swerved to pass the vehicle. With their eyes cast skyward to watch the planes, the dignitaries in the stand, some 100 ft. away, were oblivious to what was happening in front...