"Mohamed Hassanein Heikal (born 23 September 1923) is a leading Egyptian journalist. For 17 years (1957–1974) he was editor-in-chief of the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram and has been a respected commentator on Arab affairs for more than 50 years."Mohamed Hassanein Heikal's visit to SFS-Q. Source: GUQatar. Date Published: May 22, 2013. Description:
Renowned journalist and historian, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, met with Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) students, at a discussion roundtable at their Education City campus."Some analysts have noted that Sisi’s coup and his dragnet arresting hundreds of key Muslim Brotherhood members is similar to Nasser’s confrontation with the Brotherhood, but the similarities may go further. After all, Sisi is taking some of his cues from the same man who was Nasser’s brain, Heikal. A prolific author and former editor of Egypt’s flagship newspaper, Al-Ahram, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal is most famous for his close relationship with Nasser. Whether Heikal directed Nasser’s political moves, as the dean of Egyptian journalists likes to let on, or he merely witnessed up close Nasser’s decision-making process, his reputation as a great man is premised almost entirely on his history with Arab nationalism’s greatest hero. According to reports, Sisi met with Heikal regularly before the coup. Egyptian sources say that Heikal wrote both Sisi’s speech giving Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum, and Sisi’s post-coup announcement." - Lee Smith, "The Man Who Toppled Morsi" The Weekly Standard, July 18, 2013.
In the video below, Heikal is asked about Qatar's foreign policy and its relationship with Egypt, the situation in Bahrain, the Arab Spring, the future of the Arab world, the fate of democracy in the region, the challenges of the Gulf region, Morsi's first year in office, Palestine, and the intervention of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the war in Syria.
