CAIRO, (Jan 29) Reuters - Egypt’s president picked former air force commander and aviation minister Ahmed Shafiq as the next prime minister on Saturday.
Here are some facts about Shafiq.
* Ahmed Shafiq, a close associate of President Hosni Mubarak, had been minister of civil aviation since 2002.
* A former fighter pilot, Shafiq served as commander of the Egyptian air force between 1996 to 2002, a post Mubarak himself held before he became vice president of Egypt under former President Anwar Sadat.
* As minister of civil aviation, Shafiq has won a reputation for efficiency and administrative competence. He has supervised a successful modernisation programme at the state airline EgyptAir and improvements to the country’s airports.