ABOUT EGYPT Gamal Abdel Nasser: a modern-day Arab hero

The story of Gamal Abdel Nasser - handsome, grave and charismatic - is at the root of many issues in the Middle East today. His failure to unite the Arabs allowed Islam to step in as a unifying force. His entire political existence was against the Jewish homeland. And the strain of both these struggles was eventually to kill him.

He rose to power after the first Arab Israeli war of 1948. A political earthquake followed: a coup in Syria; a king assasinated in Jordan; in Egypt Nasser and a group of fellow officers seized power.

It was the first time since the Pharaohs Egypt had been ruled by an Egyptian. His first victory was over the Suez Canal. On the 29th October 1956 Israel invaded the Sinai, backed by the British and the French.

It was a drastic mistake. Both the USSR and US reacted angrily, forcing the British to back down and the Israelis to withdraw. It was the end of 100 years of British involvement in Egypt: all British property was confiscated. 3,000 nationals were expelled, and many thousands more left of their own accord.

The British had expected a popular uprising against Nasser. Instead, the opposite happened: he was now a hero.

In 1966 a war of words broke out between Syria and Israel. Because of their joint military commitments, Nasser was forced to sign a Egypt-Syria defence pact. Both sides ratcheted up the rhetoric. Pan-Arab intoxication swept the Middle East. Here, at last, was the destruction of the Jews. Nasser joined in - seeming to ignore his usual skepticism about Arab military capabilities. He asked the UN to withdraw their peace-keepers from the Egypt-Israel border. War was imminent.

Then, on 5 June 1967, Israel bombed all seventeen of Egypt's airfields. The Israelis advanced into Sinai. 15,000 Egyptian soldiers died in the fighting. By the seventh day, Israel had reached the Suez canal, occupied Jerusalem's Old City, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, increasing her hold on the Middle East dramatically - a complete distaster for the Arab nations, and another massive humiliation.

Nasser announced his resignation. But street demonstrations convinced him to stay; despite Egypt's losses he was still seen as the father of the nation, who could not abandon his country at a time of crisis. But there is little doubt the six day war damaged his health - shortly after he was diagnosed with a blood pressure complaint. He was never the same again. Three years later - negotiating a peace deal between the Palestinians and Jordanians - he collapsed, exhausted, and died of a heart attack.