Coup Atlas Research Database
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65108271967ConspiracyMilitary coup

Egypt, 1967 — military coup conspiracy

Egypt (EGY)North Africa, AfricaAugust 27, 1967

Event Summary

This entry is coded 27 August 1967, corresponding to the alleged plot by Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer against President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the aftermath of Egypt's catastrophic defeat in the June 1967 Six-Day War. Amer, Nasser's longtime confidant and commander of the armed forces, had ordered the disastrous Sinai retreat and was blamed for the military collapse; he was relieved of all duties and forced into early retirement on 17 June 1967. In August 1967 Amer, together with over 50 military officers and two former ministers including former War Minister Shams Badran, was arrested for allegedly plotting a coup to overthrow Nasser.

According to the semi-official account, Amer had planned to seize command of troops on the Suez Canal and demand reinstatement, marching on Cairo to install a revolutionary council if refused. Held under house arrest at his Giza villa, Amer died on 13 to 14 September 1967 in what the government called a suicide by poison, though many believe he was killed.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Nasser retained power and purged the officer corps; Amer died in custody in September 1967
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Gamal Abdel Nasser (president, target)
Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer (former armed forces commander, alleged plot leader)
Shams Badran (former war minister, arrested)

Sources

In August 1967 Amer, along with over 50 Egyptian military officers and two former ministers including Shams Badran, was arrested for allegedly plotting a coup to overthrow Nasser.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Abdel Hakim Amer open source ↗
Amer was dismissed from his post as vice president and commander of the armed forces after the war and arrested with 50 other officers on charges of plotting against Nasser.
SOURCE REVIEWED Time magazine archive: Egypt, Tough Times for Nasser open source ↗
Al Ahram reported that Amer had planned to seize command of Egyptian troops on the Suez Canal and demand reinstatement, and if refused would march on Cairo and set up a revolutionary council.
SOURCE REVIEWED Time magazine archive: Egypt, Tough Times for Nasser open source ↗
Amer was kept under house arrest at his villa in Giza and, according to the official account, died on 13 September 1967 after swallowing poison pills.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Abdel Hakim Amer open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 27 Aug 1967 falls within the August 1967 wave of arrests of Amer and his associates. Verified as an alleged coup plot; Amer's guilt and the true circumstances of his September 1967 death remain disputed. Distinct from the 14 Apr 1966 Egypt entry (Organization 1965 Muslim Brotherhood plot) in batch 8.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
65108271967

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Nasser retained power and purged the officer corps; Amer died in custody in September 1967.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Luttwak

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

New York Times

“TRIALS PROMISED IN CAIRO PLOT CASE‘Irresponsible Adventures’Linked To Marshal Amer,” by Jay Walz, September 14, 1967

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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