Khalil, Mustafa

▪ 2009

      Egyptian politician

born Nov. 18, 1920, Qalyub, Egypt

died June 7, 2008, Cairo, Egypt

as Egypt's prime minister (1978–80) and foreign minister (1979–80), helped to secure the Camp David Accords (1978) and subsequent peace treaty (1979) between his country and Israel, an action that set the framework for other Arab states to make peace with Israel. Khalil graduated (1941) from Cairo University with a degree in civil engineering and earned master's (1948) and doctoral (1951) degrees from the University of Illinois. After working for railroad companies in both the United States and Egypt, Khalil taught (1951–56) engineering at Ain Shams University in Cairo. When Egypt became a republic in 1953, Khalil began advising the new government, and in 1958 he joined the cabinet as minister of transport and communications. He held various other ministerial posts, including deputy prime minster (1964–66), before his appointment as prime minister. In 1980 Khalil became deputy chairman of the Democratic National Party; he stepped down in 2007.

* * *