Complicated legacy for ‘modern-day pharaoh’ Hosni Mubarak, whose ousting as dictator paved way for more brutality

The corruption he oversaw throughout his decades in power has been replaced with something even more repressive, write Borzou Daragahi and Bel Trew

Mubarak was known for overseeing rampant corruption but also relative stability (Getty)

Just months before he was forced to resign from the presidency of Egypt after 30 years in power, a leading state-owned newspaper doctored a photograph of Hosni Mubarak and other Middle Eastern leaders at the White House with Barack Obama.

The image of Mubarak, who died at the age of 91 on Tuesday, was cut from the rear of the procession and pasted to the front in a chintzy bit of Orwellian propaganda characteristic of a previous era of Arab autocracy.

In retrospect, the Photoshop stunt is refreshing compared to today’s high-tech surveillance, censorship and repression practised by the likes of Egypt’s current ruler, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, or other Arab leaders such as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.