Background
Ahmed Mohamed Thabet was born in 1920, Shebeen el Kanater, Egypt
Ahmed Mohamed Thabet was born in 1920, Shebeen el Kanater, Egypt
Educated locally and graduated from the Military College at Cairo as an officer in 1939.
His military career began in the army supply service where he established a reputation for administrative skill in ensuring the smooth distribution of stores to units. In 1951 he moved to the logistics service and subsequently took an advanced training course in the Soviet Union. In 1969 he was promoted Chief of Staff of the supply and logistics service and in 1971 he was made assistant to the War Minister in charge of supplies and logistics.
On his appointment as Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, taking over from Dr Fuad Moursi, he was plunged into a crisis over spiralling food prices and widespread discontent over erratic distribution of meat, fish and vegetables. Working in close co-operation with Mamdouh Salem, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Interior Affairs, he issued orders on April 9, 1973, listing commodities which would be subject to a special system of distribution to deter black-market trading.
A tough military technocrat accustomed to rigid control procedures, he established rigorous inspection systems in markets and stores to stop racketeers putting up prices or traders withholding goods in order to create scarcities.